Hide and Seek

Have you ever played hide and seek? I have, so I am confident you have to at some point in your childhood. As you remember, I am sure it brings fun memories at this moment of this game, but let us think about it as an adult. We play the same game with GOD. We sometimes go into hiding, and HE is seeking us. He asks us to come out of hiding and reveal those hidden places in our hearts. Ouch! Right? Truth is, there have been times in my life when I have played this game with God. It is terrifying, shameful, vulnerable, revealing, uncomfortable, and simply ugly.

No one wants to feel those emotions and try to process them all through God
's perspective since it is too much turmoil, too ghastly, too much effort, and plainly too painful. However, as God reveals your fears, he will build your faith. (Craig Groeschel, Dangerous Prayers) there is reassurance that God is still there when we come out of seasons of hiding. He forever holds my hand, never turning his back to me even when I turn away. Strengthen my faith as well as my trust. Psalm 139:1-4 Lord, you know everything there is to know about me. You perceive every movement of my heart and soul, and you understand my every thought before it even enters my mind. You are so intimately aware of me, Lord. You read my heart like an open book, and you know all the words I am about to speak before I even start a sentence! You know every step I will take before my journey even begins. (TPT)

Wow! He knows me. He knows exactly who I am. He knows the good, the bad, and the ugly and still loves me. Knows me better than I do. He sees me and wants me. It is the most beautiful feeling to realize how deeply God knows me, inside and out; He does not just enfold our hearts; He explores them. He does not just know our deeds; He understands our depths. He does not just know our thoughts; He examines the intent of our hearts. He does not just know our deepest secrets, yet His love for us never changes. When we are attentive to the unique ways God loves us, we trade comparison for contentedness and frustration for awe.

Even if you still feel like the thought of being fully known can cause you to shudder. We all have worries, struggles, hopes, and dreams that are scary to share. When we are vulnerable to others, we feel exposed. And when we are exposed, we risk rejection, but dear friend, we are safe to share everything with God. We serve a God who yearns to know us. God always welcomes us to come to Him as we are and restores us. He reveals for us to come boldly to His throne of grace with our hopes, dreams, fears, questions, doubts, anger, secrets, sins, and so on. His peace is what we need in His presence. We are forever HIS. We were created by HIM. Nothing about us is hidden from His sight (Luke 8:17), and nothing can separate us from His love. Romans 8:37-39.

Sweet sisters, remember that God knows everything in their entirety and more; nothing is hidden from God. NOTHING! Is reassuring. Such words encourage me deeply to surrender all to GOD, to have my heart wide open for HIM to be my heart surgeon to expose, to examine, to remove, to cleanse as well as to restore, to heal, to free, to make new, to make whole and to have complete shalom. Take heed; the enemy will come to lie, to place fear, to deceive you. Therefore, you are not too lost, abandoned, unlovable, unwanted, damaged, unfixable, unsaved, or whatever deception comes to mind for God to bring back HIS light into you and HIM. Remember, to walk in repentance is not in condemnation but in freedom.

For the Father loves us so much in kindness. God wants to remove all the yucky stuff hindering us from being more like Him. He wants you to be free from all those strongholds keeping you captive. He wants you to know HE is your safe place and not worry that you will be hidden forever. He is Jehovah Shalom (the Lord is peace). He wants you to know that there are blessings on the other side of God's surgery. So, allow HIS presence to transform you and bear witness that He is our God as we have discovered to trust and rest securely in Him. Psalms 139:7 Where could I go from your Spirit? Where could I run and hide from your face? We are fully known and fully loved in CHRIST, so let God's word give you peace, strength, and hope in life's darkest moments. Say this aloud

God's strength + your trust =VICTORY. Always.

Prayer

God, give me the desire to be in your presence; please show me the areas of my life where I try to hide from you. Lord, because You know everything, I can rest safely in the knowledge that I don't have to know everything; give me the courage to come out of hiding and make me believe that I am seen and loved. I invite you to walk through all the rooms of my heart, which is your home. Thank you for your steady and careful attention to every detail of my life.

 

Scriptures

Hebrews 4:13,16, Luke 8:17, Jeremiah 16;17, Jeremiah 23:24, Daniel 2:22, Psalms 17:3, Psalm 44:21, job 14:16, 31:4, Isaiah 66:18, Psalm 56:8, Jeremiah 33:3, 1 John 1:9, Psalm 139

 

Reflect

• Do you open every hidden piece of your heart to God? 
• What areas of your life do you try to keep hidden from the Lord? 
• Do you really want HIM to search? Are we willing to reveal? Or acknowledge the truth?
•  Are you going to be honest about those areas? 
• Why do you think God does not see certain areas or care?