Day Two Hundred Twenty-Six “Nowhere to Hide”

             Absolutely hilarious!  Some of our grandchildren were visiting recently, taking the opportunity to get reacquainted with their cousins and to enjoy each other’s company.  The shouts and giggles were a refreshing change for a couple accustomed to the stillness of an empty nest.  The eldest granddaughter suggested that they all play a game of hide-and-seek, and she set about organizing this rambunctious herd of little ones.  Our small house does not naturally lend itself to an endless array of hiding spots, but that did not discourage the children, who exerted their best efforts at hiding.  Watching the smallest kiddos hide in obvious, plain sight was chuckle-worthy…an eighteen-month-old, head stuffed under a pillow, entire torso exposed, is hidden?  I still smile at the silliness of that exposed hiding, but how much more nonsensical is an attempt to hide from God.

            Hide-and-seek endeavors, those attempts to hide from the presence of God, have been recorded in Scripture for our admonition and instruction.  Our first parents tried and failed at this hiding venture, as “Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God in amongst the trees in the garden.”  A mere three chapters into God’s recorded Word and man, as a result of blatant sin and self-will, tries to hide amidst the trees and foliage of a garden, as if an all-knowing God couldn’t see him.  Centuries later, the reluctant prophet Jonah, called by God to witness to the brutal Assyrian city of Ninevah, would take a whack at the game of hide-and-seek, setting sail in the opposite direction in a vain attempt to “flee…from the presence of the LORD.”  He was unsuccessful in his hiding quest and instead found himself seeking God “out of the fish’s belly.”

            As God completed His final revelation of future times to the apostle John, you guessed it, we find that men will still be hiding from the judgment of an omnipotent God.  “And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains: And said…hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne.”

            But God is clear in His Word, “Though they hide themselves…I will search and take them thence.”  This is a game man cannot win; we cannot hide from the presence of a holy God Who sees all.  Ask yourself this serious question, am I playing hide-and-seek from God with certain aspects of my life? Are there activities and entertainments that I try to hide in the secret recesses of my life, hoping that God cannot see? All is bare and open before His holy, all-seeing eye. May that thought permeate my mind as I walk this Christian life.

Psalm 139:7   Whither shall I go from thy spirit?  or whither shall I flee from thy presence?

Lord, I cannot hide from You, for You see into all aspects of my life. I am so thankful that all my sins are erased thanks to the blood of Your Son, but I want to live a life that is pleasing to You.

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