The Thought
Hide and Seek—a pastime that most of us find trailing through our childhood memories. Everyone has that funny story about when they found someone hiding in the middle of the room, when they outsmarted everyone (including Mom and Dad!) and remained in hiding for what seemed like eternity, or being tickled to death when they were finally found! Although the stories differ (and feel free to share one of your hide and seek stories with me in the “comments” section!!), we all have them.
I like to think of our relationship with God like a game of Hide and Seek. First of all, God has “hidden” little treasures all over the world and sprinkled them through our days and our lives, and He desires so badly for us to seek out these treasures! They are each a little gift laid out just for us to find!
Secondly, God has given us the ability to “hide.” Although God’s omniscience affords Him the ability to know everything, He allows us the gift of free will, to do with as we like. We have each heard that God has a plan for us, but how often are we willing to be patient enough for Him to reveal that plan? Or to jump off a ledge He’s calling us to, when we really just want to sit tight, because we like and are comfortable with the view from where we’re at? Or to simply trust that His plan far outweighs the one our minds are capable of conjuring up—forgetting that He made the mind that is doing this conjuring? God allows us to hide from His will, His grace, His peace, His beauty. We can choose to see these things as Holy and from Him, or we can hide in our meager intelligence and think that we’re capable of creating peace, grace, a divine plan, or true beauty.
The Challenge
When we think about hiding from God’s will or love in our lives and relying on our own strength, what are we really doing? Like Adam and Eve, are we hiding from something we know is still present, even in our hiding spot? Do we recognize that no matter how “good” our hiding spot may be, God still knows us? He knows our deepest desires, our longings, our weaknesses and strengths, He knows our entire hearts. Let Him know you and learn to know Him. As with any healthy relationship, we need to allow love to enter our hearts while also allowing love to pour out from our own hearts into the one we are in relationship with.
As a start to allowing God into your heart more, accept God’s Hide and Seek challenge! Today, find just 5 things that God has “hidden” for you! It could be an unexpected visit, call, or letter from a loved one, it could be an extra hour freed up that you did not anticipate having, it could be a beautiful sunset or a pretty flower that popped up in your front yard, it could be an extra hug, kiss, or I love you from a dear one. Whatever it is, when you lie in bed tonight, think of 5. By no means do you have to stop at 5, but make that a minimum for the day. Tomorrow, challenge yourself to find 6, then 7…keep going up until it becomes such a habit for you to recognize and thank God for His treasures, that you do not even need to count anymore! I’ve heard it takes 40 days to make a habit—why not go for that goal? Keep it up for 40 days and nights and allow yourself to love God by recognizing His tremendous love for you.
The Scripture
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, on your own intelligence do not rely; In all your ways be mindful of him, and he will make straight your paths.” -Proverbs 3: 5-6
I really enjoyed this! I wish you wrote more!! God has clearly given you a gift of insight and wisdom.
ReplyDelete