Hide And Seek

Hide and Seek

“I will be found by you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back from captivity.”

Jeremiah 29:14

IN WORD In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve hid from God. In the Song of Songs, the bridegroom was hidden from the bride. Much of Scripture, it seems, is hide-and-seek between God and His people. Sometimes they seek Him with all their heart, and other times they hide. Sometimes He surprises them with His presence, and other times He maintains His distance to keep them coming closer. In Scripture, God isn’t always easily found, and we aren’t always looking. But when God and His people are in each other’s presence, things happen. The relationship deepens and activity increases. We bestow gifts on Him—our lives and offerings—and He bestows gifts on His beloved.

God promised the captive Jews that if they sought Him, they would find Him, and if they found Him, they would be brought back from their exile. He fully intended that the hide-and-seek would have a satisfying outcome. He wanted to be sought, and He promised to be found.

Our relationship with God is like that too. We get frustrated sometimes because we think it ought to be a cause-and-effect formula: When we follow certain steps, there God is. When He isn’t, we get confused.

The Bible doesn’t give us a formula, though. It calls us into a relationship. Like a courtship in which each member sometimes pursues and sometimes plays hard-to-get, love is cultivated in the dynamics of attraction. The pursuit is eventually rewarded. The one who plays hard-to-get is eventually gotten. There comes a time when both are satisfied—much more so than if the relationship were an instant event.

IN DEED Look at your relationship with God like a courtship and expect a satisfying result. Things will happen when you seek Him. You will find each other’s presence, and He will bestow gifts on His beloved. He wants to. And He knows that deep down inside, so do you.

Seeking with faith, hope, and love pleases our Lord; and finding Him pleases the soul, filling it full of joy.

—JULIAN OF NORWICH