Hide & Seek

The first game that man played with GOD was ‘Hide & Seek’! It is still the first game we play with babies and it fascinates them. There is an advanced serious version of this game that people play with GOD! There are 3 stages to this game in real life.

The first stage:-  

We are hiding from GOD and GOD is seeking us.  We are hiding because of our sin which brings guilt, shame and fear of punishment.

Genesis 3:7-10 (NKJV)
Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.
8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
9 Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, "Where are you?"
10 So he said, "I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself."

This hiding place is the devil’s territory. He has a foothold in our lives here and torments us with guilt, fear & shame. He imprisons us and oppresses us. We are unable to get out of this pit and there seems to be no hope. GOD appears to be an invisible, powerful, scary force waiting to get us the moment we show up, to bestow on us the due punishment.
What we are endeavoring to hide is our sin.

Are you in such a hiding place?

The first thing we need to know is that we cannot hide from GOD. Psalm 139 makes this clear.

Psalm 139:7-12 (NKJV)
Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, "Surely the darkness shall fall on me," Even the night shall be light about me;
12 Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, But the night shines as the day; The darkness and the light are both alike to You.

Secondly, GOD is waiting for us to show up so that He can forgive our sin and set us free from the oppression of the devil.

1 John 1:8-9 (NKJV)
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Thirdly, He wants us to come to Him because He loves us and desires to embrace us.

Jeremiah 31:3 (NKJV)
The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying: "Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.

We have to take the first step and come out of our hiding place. We need to open ourselves to GOD like David the psalmist.

Psalm 139:23-24 (NKJV)
Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties;
24 And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.

Our sinful words and works may come to the open, but we can hide the motives of our minds and sinful attitudes of our hearts from others. We cannot hide anything from the eyes of the LORD, which are more powerful than the most sophisticated scanning machines!

Jeremiah 17:9-10 (NKJV)
"The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?
10 I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings.

2 Chronicles 16:9a (NKJV)
For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.

The second stage:-

We are seeking GOD. GOD seems to be hiding, but the Bible says that there is not even a  shadow of turning with Him. It is like the relationship between the sun and the earth. Darkness covers that part of the earth that turns away from the sun which is stationary and always at its best brightness.

James 1:17 (NKJV)
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

Isaiah 59:1-2 (NKJV)
Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear.
2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.

In the process of seeking GOD, we start changing, turning and moving to a place where we can find Him.

Are you seeking GOD? Continue to seek Him diligently and you will find Him.

Matthew 7:7-8 (NKJV)
"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

Jeremiah 29:11-14 (NKJV)
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
14 I will be found by you, says the LORD, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the LORD, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive.

It is our responsibility to seek GOD. It is GOD, Who, by the power of His love working through His Spirit draws us out of our hiding place and pit of oppression and sets us free from captivity! Then we will look at ourselves and understand the marvellous work of GOD in our lives!!

2 Corinthians 3:16-17 (NKJV)
Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
17 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

The third stage:-

When we find GOD through His Son JESUS, we desire to hide in Him. This is the best hiding place in this world and he who dwells in this place is most blessed! When we have experienced such a blessing, we become instruments in GOD’S hand to help others come out of their hiding places and seek GOD for themselves.

Following are some privileges & characteristics of a life hidden in CHRIST.

• Deliverance & Preservation

Psalm 32:1-7 (NKJV)
Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered.
2 Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit.
3 When I kept silent, my bones grew old Through my groaning all the day long.
4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah
5 I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD," And You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah
6 For this cause everyone who is godly shall pray to You In a time when You may be found; Surely in a flood of great waters They shall not come near him.
7 You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. 

• Dwelling place & Protection

                         
Psalm 119:114 (NKJV)
You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your word.
 
 Psalm 91:1-4 (NKJV)
He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust."
3 Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler And from the perilous pestilence.
4 He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
     

• Comfort  

 
Isaiah 51:12-16 (NKJV)
"I, even I, am He who comforts you. Who are you that you should be afraid Of a man who will die, And of the son of a man who will be made like grass?
13 And you forget the LORD your Maker, Who stretched out the heavens And laid the foundations of the earth; You have feared continually every day Because of the fury of the oppressor, When he has prepared to destroy. And where is the fury of the oppressor?
14 The captive exile hastens, that he may be loosed, That he should not die in the pit, And that his bread should not fail.
15 But I am the LORD your God, Who divided the sea whose waves roared-- The LORD of hosts is His name.
16 And I have put My words in your mouth; I have covered you with the shadow of My hand, That I may plant the heavens, Lay the foundations of the earth, And say to Zion, 'You are My people.' "
                                   

• Submission

      
Ruth 3:9 (NKJV)
And he said, "Who are you?" So she answered, "I am Ruth, your maidservant. Take your maidservant under your wing, for you are a close relative."

•  Obedience & salvation

                   
Genesis 6:22-7:1 (NKJV)
Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did.
1 Then the LORD said to Noah, "Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation.
                                              

• Selfless CHRIST-centered life resulting in Glory

Exodus 33:21-23 (NKJV)
And the LORD said, "Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock.
22 So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by.
23 Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen."

Colossians 3:1-4 (NKJV)
1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.
2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.
3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
                    

•  Hope

Hebrews 6:19 (NKJV)
This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil,

•  Peace

John 16:33 (NKJV)
These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

•  Rest

                
Hebrews 4:9-10 (NKJV)
There remains therefore a rest for the people of God.
10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.
  

• Beauty

                    
1 Peter 3:3-4 (NKJV)
Do not let your adornment be merely outward--arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel--
4 rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.
 

• Fruitfulness

             
John 15:5 (NKJV)
I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
  

•  Unity

            
Matthew 23:37 (NKJV)
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!
 
John 17:21 (NKJV)
that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.
    
                     Where are you right now?                                          
Are you hiding from GOD, filled with guilt, fear & shame, oppressed by the devil?
 Are you seeking GOD, confessing your sins to Him and repenting of them?
   Are you hiding in GOD, resting in the assurance of His love?

Luke 19:10 (NKJV)
for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."

Deuteronomy 33:12 (NKJV)
Of Benjamin he said: "The beloved of the LORD shall dwell in safety by Him, Who shelters him all the day long; And he shall dwell between His shoulders."

GOD sent His only Son, JESUS into this world to seek after you if you are lost. He is waiting to save you from your sin and set you free from the power and consequences of sin. He will freely forgive you because He took the penalty for your sin on Himself when He suffered and died on the cruel cross. He will wash you with His precious blood and embrace you with His love. There is a special slot for you to hide and rest in the bosom - the heart of your Heavenly Father.

Humbly come to Him now!
 He has been waiting for you to come!!