Did you ever play hide and go seek when you were a kid?
I have no doubt that you probably did. Were you the one whose goal was to hide so well no one would ever find you? Or, were the one who wanted to hide just well enough so your friends would have to work to find you, but ultimately you would be found? Or, were you so afraid your friends would not bother looking for you that you hid in an obvious place where you would be easily found at the beginning of the game?
Did you want to win or be found?
I must confess, I was the guy who wanted to win. I wanted to hide so well no one would ever find me. It never even crossed my mind that my friends wouldn’t care enough to look for me and that somehow I would be abandoned; deemed unworthy of their efforts to seek me out.
I know many people live with that fear. A fear of abandonment that perhaps was born in a game of hide and seek as a young child when you were left unfound, not because your hiding spot was so good, but because you were unsought.
I experienced something like this in university. Our church college and career group would get together on weekends to hang out, have some fun and eat together. This particular night we were playing Hounds and Hares in the forest behind my buddy’s house in North Vancouver. The gist of the game is that all the hares hide while one hound is left to seek them out after a loudly counted out period for hiding. When the hound finds a hare, that hare becomes a hound as well until everyone are hounds looking for the last hare.
Anne and I hid together. We found a very cool hiding place where we squeezed side by side under a log – totally hidden. We waited and waited to be found. We must have waited for 30 minutes thinking we must be the last ones. We finally revealed ourselves only to find out everyone had left. Gone, all of them. We couldn’t believe it.
We wandered down to another friend’s house where we found the gang getting ready to eat some dinner. Apparently they had looked and looked for us – even calling out our names. When we didn’t come out they simply left, figuring we wanted to be alone. We simply wanted to win, but apparently our friends did not want to find us as badly as we wanted to remain hidden.
There is something deep in our hearts that wants to be pursued. We love the feeling of hiding, knowing full well people who care about us are pursuing us, seeking us out. I believe there is a God-given desire in all of us to be pursued, to be sought out. We want someone or ones to pursue us. It makes us feel wanted, worthy, and desired.
God is no different. He wants us to pursue Him. I believe that He even hides Himself sometimes to see if we value Him enough to seek Him. Sadly we often want God to immediately reveal Himself to us so we don’t have to work to find Him. What kind of message does that send to God?
“I really don’t want to work hard to find you – you are not worth my effort.”
Ouch!
God says to us, “If you seek me you will find me – if you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you declares the Lord.” Doesn’t that sound like a game of Divine Hide and Seek where the Lord invites us to find Him? “I am worth your effort. Come and find me…” He seems to be saying.
The Lord wants to be pursued. He wants to be found. He is worthy of our pursuit.
Are you wholeheartedly pursuing God, or do you expect Him to reveal Himself with little effort from you? If God seems distant, perhaps He has invited you to play a game of Divine Hide and Seek.
How much do you value Him? Are you willing to seek Him out? He wants to be found by you…
Jeremiah 29:13, 14A
“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord…”
Proverbs 25:2
“It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.”