Hide & Seek

The tale of two cities starts with this famous line, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.  Two polar opposite statements.  That is what the game Hide and Seek looks like in our house with the two boys.  Eli wants to find the best hiding spot, while Silas wants to get found.  Let me tell you at 6 years old Eli has gotten pretty dang good at hiding, even placing himself into spots that I am too big to get into and you often wonder how he got there only to stumble open him.  

Silas on the other hand will start screaming after 30 seconds, “Dad, I’m right here.”  That is if he even makes it that long.  There have honestly been times playing where he will tell you ahead of time where he is going to hide. “Bud, it kinda takes away from the game..” but in his mind that is how he wants to play.  He wants to be found.  

How many of us picture God like a game of hide and seek, where He is off somewhere in the distance and we are continuing looking for Him. We see Him like Eli, hiding, and we are hoping one day maybe by chance we will stumble across Him.  

Thank God that is not the truth though. God desires us to know Him, to have a relationship with Him, to find Him if you will.  Scripture tells us in Jeremiah 29:13, that if we seek Him, we will find Him. HE WANTS YOU TO KNOW HIM.  Since the beginning of time, God has set in motion ways to see Him, opportunities to encounter Him.  Even Romans tells us these words, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20 NIV)

So if the truth is that God wants us to find Him, then why do so many people miss Him? Thinking upon this and the concept of hide and seek, I believe the answer lies in the fact that we don’t seek Him. What if in playing hide and seek with my kids, instead of going to look, I just sat down, and wondered where they were. Thirty seconds goes by, a minute goes by, then time just keeps passing.  Why can’t I find them? Because I never set out to seek them. If I don’t pursue after them, even when Silas is screaming out I am right here, I will NEVER find them.  

Seeking means pursuing. Seeking means going after. Seeking means setting aside everything else to find that treasure.  Seeking doesn’t mean just one hour a week and hoping that is enough.  Seeking doesn’t mean putting the Bible under my pillow like my high school math homework hoping it will magically make its way into my mind for the test the next day.  To seek is to go after.  

Challenge

By Josh Knipple| Western PA