Hide & Seek

by Pastor Dan

A few weeks ago, I was watching my grandson, and he says, “Grandpa, can we play hide and seek?”  “Of course we can,” I said.  He looked at me and said, “I will start counting.  You go hide.”  As I ran off across the yard to find a place to hide, I heard the start of his countdown.  I went around the building and found a place to hide, and suddenly a small breeze and full sun hit my face.  At that moment, I was thinking about the dark blue sky, the sunshine, a cool brisk fall day, and I felt a sense of peace.  While I was alone in those moments, I realized that I was not alone at all.  

Jesus often pulled away from the craziness of life to pray, and in those moments of solitude, he heard the voice of God.  He found peace, comfort, guidance, and wisdom.  My mind started spinning with all these wonderful thoughts and how they helped me even during trials, even amid struggles, and even in the busyness of life.  There really are moments of solitude where Jesus wants to have our attention.  I was so lost in the moment, I never heard the end of my grandson’s countdown or even the words “I am coming to find you, Grandpa.”  The next thing I knew, I heard the words, “Grandpa, I found you.”  Proverbs 8:17 popped into my mind:  "I love those who love me, and those who diligently seek me will find me.”  I could see the excitement on my grandson’s face that he had found me.  His face reminded me of how it must make God smile and be excited that we seek Him.

Sometimes I think the church has missed the mark a bit.  We try to change our services.  We try all that we can so that we can be what is known as a seeker-sensitive church.  To me, the question is not whether a person or visitor that walks into the church is seeking God.  The greater question is:  Am I willing to seek out those who need God?  Am I a sensitive seeker?  Am I willing and prepared, asking God to challenge me to grow in the courage and confidence that only God can give to me?  I find that in times of solitude, I intentionally draw away from the people I love dearly so that I can hear from God because, ultimately, then God asks me to draw near to those that he places around me.  

So this article could really be, in some ways, for two different groups of people.  The first group of people would be those whom God has sought out and who have allowed Him to find them.  Maybe it was through experiences and tough challenges or just in everyday life.  For me, it was that God put a set of experiences in my life that brought me to the place of finding Him, and I realized that the Lord made those experiences happen so that I could find Him.  The other group of people that I would like to speak to in this article would be maybe those that have not found Him yet.  Do you know that He is looking for you?  Do you know that He is seeking you?  Do you know that the countdown has finished, and He is seeking to find you?  For both groups, what stands in front of us is courage and strength to seek relationships so that Christ can be shared in the world around us.

“Seek the Lord and His strength, Seek His face continually.” Psalm 105:4
“Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near.” Isaiah 55:6

May God bless you.
-Pastor Dan