Distraction of Disappearances

He knows about everyone, everywhere. Everything about us is bare and wide open to the all-seeing eyes of our living God; nothing can be hidden from him to whom we must explain all that we have done. Hebrews 4:13 TLB

Shopping with my son as a toddler was an adventure. He did not like to stay in his stroller and climbed out the instant I stopped to look at something. I learned to alter my expectations if I was going to accomplish anything. One of his favorite games was playing hide and seek in the clothing carousels.  I pretended I couldn’t find him and called out his name, even though I could see his brightly colored high tops peeking out below the clothing. I was reminded of this recently when shopping with my three-year-old grandson. He disappeared into the rack of clothing and giggled as we pretended to look for him. Of course, we acted surprised when he popped out and cried “Here I am!”

I started thinking about different people in the Bible that hid from God. For example, Adam and Eve tried to hide from God after they disobeyed His directions.  God knew where they were all the time and eventually, they had to reveal themselves to Him. Or Jonah, when he tried to hide from God by escaping to Tarshish, but God always knew where he was.  It wasn’t a game. In both cases, they were purposely hiding from God.

Do I try to hide from God? Maybe it’s not as obvious as Adam and Eve, or Jonah. But are there times I ignore God’s request to step out of my comfort zone? Or are there times I create excuses when He desires me to make a difficult sacrifice? I may think I am hiding from God, but He sees through my excuses every time.

Hebrews reminds us that nothing can be concealed from God. We are accountable to Him for every single choice we make. Even more so, He loves us and desires us to bring our excuses, fear, shame, and troubles to Him. There is no need to hide like Eve or Jonah. He will find us and lovingly provide just what we need to face the difficulty ahead.

Dear Lord,

Forgive me for thinking I can hide things from You. You know all and love me despite my weaknesses. Thank you that You are El Roi, the God who sees. I know from Your Word that nothing can separate me from You. Amen

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