I adored Hide and Seek when I was a little girl. Finding the best hiding spot. How long before I'd be found? The thrill of being sought. Maybe, just maybe, I wouldn't be found. I must admit though. I even loved being caught! Then, and only then, I became the seeker. Counting to ten rather quickly. Tackling the challenge of finding the others. Coming out of hiding, one at a time, they'd squeal with delight when I found them. Then, they would help me find the rest!
Heck, who am I kidding. I still love hide and seek. Guess I always have. Only, as an adult, it's taken on new meaning. How differently I play it now. Counting to ten, super slow, playing Hide and Seek with our grand kids is pure joy. So is witnessing my children joining in! With the added affect of pretending we can't find them, it's especially joy-filled! Gives the grands the thrill of thinking "Perhaps, just perhaps, this time, they won't be found!"
"Where can they possibly be?" I say loudly as I walk right by them. "I think I'm gonna need a hint" I exclaim. "Will I find them?" I wonder out loud. "When I find you, I'm gonna tickle you" I warn them as I stomp my feet for special effects. "I'm gonna get you" I shout as I search for them. Sometimes, they feel bad for me and give a few hints, sometimes they squeal at the thought of being tickled and found, and sometimes, on very rare occasions, they stay quiet as mice. Eventually, of course, I find them, tickle them to pieces, and we erupt in laughter together.
I like to think of GOD this way. We are his children and he is our father, ever seeking us. Hoping to be found. Wanting to make us giggle for joy. Hoping to love all over us. There is a major difference, however. He isn't hoping we hide and he certainly isn't hoping to not be found. It's actually just the opposite.
We learn this truth in Genesis Chapter 3 when Adam and Eve are hiding from GOD, having sinned, and God comes looking for them in the Garden of Eden. He asks them, "Where are you?", when, of course, he already knows! The very first game of Hide and Seek has begun only, this time, it's not for fun. It's to give us a glimpse into God's father heart towards us. The father who seeks us no matter what we are going through and wants to be sought in return. He is even seeking us now. He's always hoping to be found.
So, just how do we seek him, you ask. How can he be found? Well, one way we can seek GOD is through prayer! Prayer truly is an act of seeking GOD. Seeking GOD to speak to him, relate to him, love him, lean on him, ask him for help, let him lead you and so much more. Praying to the one who hopes to be found. If it weren't so, he wouldn't have said in his word, "Ask, and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and the door shall be opened unto you." Matthew 7:7
God promises to reveal himself to us as we seek him. But how do you seek someone who seems hard to find? Like his word says: You ask. You seek. You knock. Just as I ask my grand kids, "Where are you" and "Can I have a hint?", we do the same with GOD. Seek him out. He hopes to be found! Ask him questions! Many of his hints are found in his Word. After all, it says so in Amos 5.8 KJV where we read:
"Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The Lord is his name" He wants to be sought!
So, what are you waiting for? Seek GOD today. Read his word. Talk to him in prayer. Who knows what you may find! I'm counting for you now. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. It's time! Go play Hide and Seek with GOD. Go show up and be found. Happy seeking! Happy finding! He's waiting. He loves you very much. Oh, and as you seek, remember, prayer changes things! There's never a time without an answer when the answer is always a prayer.
