I played it. You played it. We've all played it. Hide and Seek is a fun kids game. I remember making sure that I had the best hiding place so that I would not be found. I couldn't wait for my seekers to give up. But because I didn't want them find my spot, I wouldn't reveal myself until they had moved away from where I was hiding. Of course when I was the seeker, I would never give up looking. I would search every crack and crevice until I would find them or they would give themselves up.
After several years in ministry, I've discovered that Hide and Seek isn't just a kids game after all. Adults play it all the time. And not just with kids. They play it at work, in their relationships with friends and family and often times with themselves. Of course it's not exactly like the game we played as kids, we have developed adult versions. We hide truth from our clients, our patrons, our customers, our friends, our spouses, ourselves. We disappear, make ourselves hard to find or get a hold of. We've become masters of avoidance or shifting blame or denial. We hide our true feelings. We're less honest.
We also play Hide and Seek with God. Somehow we've got in our mind that we can actually hide things, activities from God. The activities we do in secret, our thoughts, our lusts, our sly sins are okay in our minds as long as we don't reveal them to our church friends. I went to visit one of our elders at a church I once served. He was out on the lot of his business checking on his equipment. He didn't know I was coming. I surprised him as he came around the corner of a trailer. He had been smoking a cigarette and didn't want anyone to know that he smoked. In an attempt to hide his smoldering cigarette, he tried to cup it in his hand behind his back. As we talked the ashes were burning his hand and both the pain and guilt were evident on his face. But instead of coming clean with me, he endured the discomfort.
When will we learn that there is nothing we can hide from God. He sees all, knows all. What is more intriguing to me is that even though we know that what we are involved in is not only sin and harmful to us, we continue trying to hide our activity, disobedience. Instead of coming clean, we go right on doing the very thing that is causing us pain. Then we expect everything to be right in our lives and for God to keep blessing us.
In this passage in Deuteronomy, God tells Moses that after he's gone, the people will rebel against Him by getting involved in pagan worship practices of the people already living in the land God is giving them. And He goes on to tell Moses that when they do that, He will stop blessing them and they will have to live with the consequences of their behavior.
God doesn't play Hide and Seek. It's simple with Him. We choose to disobey Him, to walk away from His truths, to refuse to live by His truths, then we're on our own. We want God to bless our life, but we also want to do continue with our inappropriate behavior. Can't happen. Why would God bless our life when we willfully choose to cut Him out? We cut God out and He simply says, "Fine. You're on your own. Don't blame me when you crash and burn."
God doesn't have to bring punishment in our lives when we sin or rebel against Him by our actions. All He has to do is remove His hand and we will self destruct. You don't want God interfering in your life. He won't. But don't expect His blessings or protection or intervention either. You want to hide from God, go right ahead. God won't stop you, but hang on for the consequences of your own choices and behavior.
God, every time I choose to go off in my own direction, I pay the price. I need your Spirit's intervention in my thought process. I don't want to sever our relationship by my actions, lusts, thoughts, etc. I want to focus on you, experience you, receive your blessings.
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