17...18...19...20! Ready or not here I come!

From early childhood, we have learned that hiding is better than seeking. We have not only argued about who the seeker will be, but we hope every time that we will get to hide. Why? Because hiding is much easier and takes much less energy and focus than seeking does. Bear with me a little bit as I incorporate some psychology into this post. Freud, along with many other psychologists, discussed the importance that childhood beliefs and environmental factors play in adulthood. So as children, we believe that hiding is an excitable and desirable thing, which often times carries into our adult lives. We start to hide from our problems, our relationships, our fears, and most importantly, we try to hide from God. Similar to the first documented conversation between God and mankind, we try to hide from God because we feel shame due to what we've done. If you aren't familiar with this story, let me refresh your memory.

But the Lord God called to the man, "Where are you?" and he answered, "I heard you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid" And God said "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?" The man said " The woman you put here with me-she gave some fruit from the tree, and I ate it." Then the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" and the woman replied "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." Genesis 3:9-13

From the earliest accounts of scripture, mankind has turned from God and sought refuge in hiding, rather than seeking the Creator of the universe. This shows that our very first recorded dialogue with God contains words of fear, hiding and shame. Notice that Adam's response was not to take responsibility for his actions, but to place the blame on another. Instead of responding directly to the question that God asked, Adam chose not to face his sin and hide from what he knew was true. Sound familiar? Now we probably don't hide from God because we are naked (hopefully), but you can fill in the blank. We say to God "I was afraid because ________, so I hid." Whatever that blank is for you, why are you hiding?

The apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 5:8-13 "For you were once in darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of the light and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather EXPOSE them. It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible- and everything that illuminated becomes a light."

Expose: to make something visible by uncovering it. Subject to light. By exposing our weakness, our sin, our shame, we are bringing it to the light. When we live in the light, we find freedom. Rather than continually striving to cover up your mistakes, expose them. Let others in on your life. Recently, I have been reading the book Unashamed by Christine Caine and if this topic interests you, please go check out this book. I would go so far as to say that when we try to hide our sin from God and from others, the root is pride. We don't want other people knowing that we struggle and that we are weak. This world screams BE STRONG and be okay, even if you're not. However, in my life the strongest people I know are the ones that are willing to be real about how weak they really are apart from Christ. 2nd Corinthians 12:9 says "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness so that Christ's power may rest upon me. You see, when we are weak, He is strong. He uses our weakness to display His strength. At this point, I would hope that we had a fairly solid grasp on what it means to hide and why we consistently try to hide from God.

Instead of hiding from God, I challenge you to seek Him during the times that you want to hide. Matthew 7:7 says "Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you shall find, knock and the door shall be opened unto you." Seeking involves calling and pleading. The great promise to those who seek The Lord is that He will be found. Humility is a crucial part of seeking The Lord. Lets think back to the old game of hide and seek. What does the seeker do? He looks. He searches. He doesn't quit until he has found who/what he is looking for. The hider sits still while the seeker moves. The hider strives to be silent while the seeker is calling out. The hider waits while the seeker runs. Beloved, don't you see? It's been too long. Come out of hiding. Come into the light. Drop your shame and your past at the foot of the Cross. For it is for freedom that Christ has set you free. Jesus paid the price, He set you free so chose to walk in the identity that He created you to be. You no longer have to be bound by sin and shame, for that is the very reason that Jesus came! So go now, be free, open your eyes and begin to see. Stop hiding and begin to seek, but remember that He is the key.

-Riss