Hide or Seek

Can you remember playing Hide and Seek when you were little? My favorite place to hide was either under my bed or in the corner of my closet. I loved the anticipation of being found and man was it hard to stay quiet for so long!

Unfortunately, as I grew up I continued to play the game of hide and seek. But no longer was my hiding place under the bed or the closet's corner.....it was inside myself. Due to different circumstances in my life I began to believe that I didn't have anything to say that was of value. The enemy took this lie and re-enforced it so that every time I was faced with rejection of any kind I would close up. At least that made me feel safe. The problem with this is that if you hide who you really are for a long enough period of time, you lose yourself and end up conforming to those around you. God has not called us to be photocopies of each other. We are designed to be authentic originals. He is calling His daughters to "come out, come out wherever you are!"

Remember Jesus words to us in Matthew 5:14.."You are the light of the world, a city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden." and Matthew 10:26-27, "Therefore do not fear them. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops."

You might say to me....but I'm afraid. Know what? I understand. I think we all struggle with fear at different times. It has been a major stronghold in my life that I have battled. But one thing I have learned is that the more I am confident and secure in the truth of Jesus' love for me, the less I fear. The Bible says in I John 4:18 "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love."

How do we experience this love? We spend time with Him, we cry, we talk, we share dreams, we are vulnerable. We learn about His character. Once we get rooted in His love for us, passion for Him will naturally flow out of our mouth (you do have something of value to say!),our actions and our attitudes. Boldness that is born out of our love for Jesus and His love for us breaks the grip of fear.

So, do you know what you are doing now? You are making a choice to Seek and not Hide. What does is mean to seek the Lord? The word Seek means to go in search of something, to pursue or follow. I think one way we do this is to acknowledge Him in our daily life. Did you ever notice how you can go through a whole day and not think about the Lord very much? He wants to be part of everything we do. When we acknowledge Him in the little things we will truly begin to see Him more and in turn Seek Him more. Remember when you were the one doing the seeking in the game? At times I wanted to give up because the hider had been able to become seemingly invisible in their perfectly concealed place. But seeking the Lord is not hard....He wants you to find Him!

In Psalm 27:8 it says, "When You said, Seek my face, My heart said to You, Your face, Lord, I will seek." What is your answer to His question? I know it feels safe and secure inside your walls...but I also know from experience it's very lonely in there. Take a risk and hear Him call to you, "Come out, come out, wherever you are, let Me be your Hiding place."