Hide and Seek

My grandchildren love playing “Hide and Seek.”  They not only like hiding themselves but hiding objects and finding them.
Our Christian lives can often find us playing “Hide and Seek” with God.  “Where are you, God?  Am I hot or cold?  Give me a hint of where you are and what you are doing.”  At times, we even wonder if He had given up on finding us!

A young man, 39, a “Christian” songwriter and singer in a band, posted on the internet that he no longer believed in God!  He would no longer be singing in the band.  He could not sing what he did not believe!
What drives us to these places of unbelief, wondering and questioning where God is and what He is doing?  Is God hiding from us, or are we the ones hiding from Him?  What brings us to the root of all these questions? The answer is found in three letters:  one word – SIN, SIN, SIN.
When man decided to sin, when he desired to be like God, the consequences of those decisions caused suffering, killing, cancer, death, hatred, destruction, bad attitudes, stealing, separation, lying, deception, back biting, unforgiveness, anger, and me, me, me.
When sin came into the world, so did the curse of sin, which is separation from God.  Sin causes us to hide from God and draws us away from Him. Genesis 3:10 tells us that Adam and Eve tried to hide from God after sinning.  1 John 1:8 says, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”  Verse 10 goes on to say that “If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him (God) a liar, and His Word is not in us.”
The key, therefore, to seeking, knowing, and understanding who God is, involves us acknowledging our own SIN and the ramification and condemnation of it.
“For God did not send His son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.  He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (John 3:17-19).
Sin, therefore, can cause us to doubt God, doubt His Word, His love towards us, and even his wisdom and sovereignty.  As a result, we hide from God.
Is God hard to find?  Is He hiding from us?  Who is he?  He is first and foremost righteous, holy, all-knowing, all-powerful, everywhere present, eternal, merciful and loving.  Isaiah 44:6 and 8 says, 
“I am the First and I am the Last:  Besides me there is no God.  Is there a God besides Me?  Indeed, there is no other rock; I know not one.”
John 1:1-4, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.  In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.”
God is Who He Is!  He is the same yesterday, today, and forever!  Malachi 3:6, “For I am the Lord, I do not change.”  He never changes, He never moves!  WE DO!  We are the ones hiding!
Sin separates us from God!  He cannot because of His infinite righteousness look on our sin!  What does that righteousness look like?  Let’s look at Isaiah 87:12-13 where God said to Isaiah, “Do not fear what (this people) fears, nor be in dread.  But the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy.  Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.”  Do not lump God into the same group as all of your ordinary fears and dreads. We are to treat Him as utterly separate and unique; we are to have godly fear, respect and even dread. That word dread is about great awe, reverence, and even anticipation!
God is self-existent, needs nothing, and depends on nothing and no one.  He is complete, perfect!           2 Timothy 2:13 says, “If we are faithless, he remains faithful; He cannot deny himself.”  John Piper put it this way:  “Every affection, every thought, every word, and every act of God will always be consistent with the infinite worth and beauty of his transcendent fullness.”  God’s transcendence is beyond and above anything we know as normal in our human experiences.  It surpasses the ordinary; it is exceptional, and it is apart from, higher than, and not subject to the limitations of the material universe.
Think about it:  If God is not Who He is, we would not even be here!!! Not only would we be hiding – we would be lost.  Who God is, is not up for debate, as the world would like us to think.  Hs holiness, righteousness, greatness, unwavering commitment to us, His beauty, His worth, His affection and love are always consistent with who He is.  It is always there for us to discover.
When my grandkids find me in my hiding place, excitement and joy come forth!  There is the proclamation, “I found her!”  What an awesome picture of God!  He is seeking, seeking, seeking us when we are hiding, hiding, hiding.  But, oh, the joy when we are found by our Savior!  When we understand the magnitude of our own sin and the indescribable righteousness, grace and mercy that saves us.
I wonder what would happen if all of us stopped hiding from God, and we sought forgiveness and chose to live in His righteousness, His love, His mercy, His grace?
There is an old song that is titled, “Oh, Happy Day, When Jesus Washed My Sins Away!”  Has He been seeking you but not finding you?  The question each of us has to ask is, are we playing “Hide and Seek” with God?  Jesus said, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks, receives, and the one who seeks, finds, and to the one who knocks, it will be opened” (Matthew 7:7-9).  Call out to Jesus.  Identify yourself, “I am here, Lord!”  His promises are true, and He will reveal Himself to you.  That song is His desire for our lives!
No more hiding, Lord, only seeking and finding!