The Hide-and-Seek Dilemma (that really isn't a dilemma at all)

For those of you who sat next to me in church today, (ahem Hannah, Max) you all knew this was coming.

Let me tell you- I love sermons that get you fired up and excited about the pure awesomeness of God.

I should also tell you this blog post came directly out of something that was said in church today. And yes, right then and there I wrote out the outline for this blog. It only took about a minute. 

See?

Anyways.

We read in Genesis 3:1b-8:

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”  And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said,‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”  So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.  Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

So practically since the beginning of time, man has felt the need to try to hide. Adam and Eve were ashamed of their naked bodies and what they had done and they tried to hide themselves from God, who had come to dwell with them in the garden.

There's the Hide.

God created man with a desire to be "seen", We all long to be loved. Remember how a few weeks ago I talked about seeing the invisible? We all have that desire to be affirmed, loved, cherished, celebrated, and seen. Those longings are from God- it's part of how He designed us as human beings. We were created to live openly with Him- seeing Him and being seen by Him without any fear or shame. We know from Genesis 3 that God walked openly in the garden of Eden with Adam and Eve and that God created man to be in fellowship with not only Him, but each other as well (Genesis 2:18).

There's the seek. 

You see the Hide-and-Seek Dilemma here?

Once sin entered the picture we were left with a yearning to be seen and known because that is how we were created, but also with the feeling that we have to hide. Maybe we feel we have to hide because:

• we are guilty and ashamed because we insert-your-reason-here
• we have been hurt, abused, laughed at, and betrayed and we are scared that it will happen again
• we are afraid of our own shortcomings and feel insignificant
• we are convinced we aren't worth anything
• it is a way for us to remain in control of what others know about us

Ultimately, we hide because of sin. 

Our own sins, the sins of others...sin is at the root of it all. 

Most of us go through life and at least attempt to hide some part of ourselves. Whether that be our habits, addictions, fears, or emotions, we try and have grown used to hiding parts of our lives from other people because we don't want them to see us for who we are. We put on a facade- we present the parts of ourselves we deem adequate or worthy of being seen. We think that if we play our cards right, no one can see what we are trying to hide and we are seen for who we want people to think we are. 

In my mind, hide-and-seek has simply become a part of how we live.

The big problem with playing hide-and-seek with our lives is that it quickly becomes lonely. There is a certain loneliness that comes from feeling like we have to hide parts of our lives that we don't want people to see. 

The comforting, yet totally terrifying, thing here?

God sees. He sees it all. And what's even more comforting? He loves us anyways. 

Where can I go from your Spirit?

Where can I flee from your presence? 

If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 

If I rise on the wings of the dawn,

if I settle on the far side of the sea, 

even there your hand will guide me,

your right hand will hold me fast. 

If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me

and the light become night around me,” 

even the darkness will not be dark to you;

the night will shine like the day,

for darkness is as light to you.

For you created my inmost being

you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful,

I know that full well

My frame was not hidden from you

when I was made in the secret place,

when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.

- Psalm139:7-15

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him. 

- Hebrews 4:13a

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. 

- John 3:16

But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

- Romans 8:37-39

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

 - Romans 5:8

Let that last verse sink in for a second.

God loves us so much that He sent His only son to die a brutal death on a cross- knowing all the while that we are sinners? That we are never going to be perfect on this earth?

Woah.

And yet, we sometimes may think we can, or try to, hide from Him.

That's just silly.

Here's where the big question comes in. The sentence that was said during the sermon today that left me with this blog post.

Are we willing?

Are we willing to give over to God those things we feel we have to hide? Are we willing to give Him our fears? Our pain? Our sadness?

God loves us. He loves us even though we are sinners. He loves us even though we are going to disappoint Him. He loves us, friends. He loves us.

He loves us for who we are. He sees our inadequacies. He sees our scars. He sees our fears, our emotions, our addictions. And He loves us anyways.

And He's waiting. He's made Himself available to us. He is waiting for us to surrender to Him completely. He is waiting to hold us, comfort us, and wrap us up in His love for who we are; who He designed us to be. 

We don't have to hide from God because He already sees and knows everything we try to hide. If God already loves us for who we are, how come we are scared to let others see us for who we are?

Just something to think about. That's what I have been asking myself all day. I have been challenged greatly in the last few hours. I know personally I try hide so much. I'm beginning to realize I don't have to. No more hide-and- seek. 

I am God's. He loves me.  And that's good enough for me.