hide and seek


Psalm 139: 7-12 “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.”

            I have been playing hide and seek with God, I have been hiding and waiting for him to find me. (I am not proud of this.) Just as a little child thinks she may be pulling off the best hiding place ever, yet her parent knows exactly where she is. God doesn’t need to “find” me, he knows exactly where I am, what I am doing or not doing.

            Life has not been easy the last several weeks and darkness has permeated my days. It is a daily battle to seek the blessings when I’d much rather pout about my hardships. It is a daily battle to take it to the Lord in prayer. It is a moment by moment battle to trust Him to bring good from my circumstances. Psalm 139 has long been my go to psalm for encouragement and it holds true in my current circumstances.

            How I wish I could share with you that just reading this psalm pulls me from darkness instantly but that would not be honest. During this time I find myself making desperate grabs at all the bible verses I can recall, claiming those promises for myself and my family. The good thing about that is that as I do so, I sharpen my faith.  Hard times are the refiner’s fire. Do you know how a refiner knows when he has refined metal to its purest form? When he can see his own reflection in the metal. That is the goal of life my friends, that we reflect our Lord and Savior to the world. We will come out of the fire glowing with the love of Christ so brightly that darkness doesn’t stand a chance. 

            God does not have to call “Olly olly oxen free!” We are found, we are redeemed, and we are loved. It is time to come out of hiding.
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