Hide-N-Seek-God
If God will meet you anywhere, why are you making it so hard for Him to find you?
That question is not meant to shame you, it is meant to wake you up. The truth is, God is not distant. He is not hiding. He has not turned His back on you.
From the very first pages of Scripture, we see a God who pursues people, even when they are running in the opposite direction. When someone feels far from God, the problem isn’t His absence. More often than not, it is our avoidance.
In the Garden of Eden, after Adam and Eve sinned, God came looking for them. He called out, “Where are you?” God was not lacking information, He was inviting honesty. He was calling them out of hiding and back into relationship. But instead of running to God, they hid from Him. That instinct has never left us. When we fail, when we sin, when we feel ashamed — our first reaction is often pulling away from God, rather than running towards Him.
Do you remember playing hide-n-seek as a small child? Maybe you played it with your kids when they were toddlers. Despite their best efforts, weren’t they horrible at finding good places to hide? As soon as you walked in the room, there they were, under the table with their faces hidden in their hands — exposed, out in the open, yet thinking they were so well shrouded. As parents, we chuckle at their attempts to disguise themselves, but we often hide from God in the same way.
One of the most common hiding places we choose is busyness. We pack our schedules so full that there is no room left to meet with God in the stillness.
We say we want to hear God’s voice, but we drown Him out with constant noise. We fill every quiet moment with screens, scrolling, and endless distractions.
Silence makes us uncomfortable because silence leaves room for God to speak, and sometimes, we are afraid of what He might say.
Another place we choose to hide behind is excuses. We tell ourselves we will get serious about God later. Later when life slows down, right? Later when things are less complicated. Later when we feel more worthy. But later is a dangerous word. Later becomes never. Slowly, without even realizing it, our hearts grow cold and distant, because “later” comes quicker than we think.
Some people hide behind guilt and shame. You may think you have gone too far or messed up too badly for God to meet you where you are. You assume God is disappointed or angry, waiting for you to fix yourself before coming back. But if God only met with perfect people, He would never meet with anyone.
God has always met people in their mess.
He met Moses in the wilderness.
He met David after failure.
He met Peter after denial.
He met the prodigal son while he was still broken and dirty.
Grace does not wait for you to clean yourself up; Grace meets you where you are.
Others hide behind “religion” — a vague term for playing church but not living it. You attend weekly services, you know the right language, you even serve, give, and show up on time. But, your heart is far from God.
You are doing things for Him without actually walking with Him.
Activity has replaced intimacy. Performance has replaced presence.
Jesus reserved some of His strongest warnings, not for broken sinners, but for “religious” people who were hiding behind appearances. (See Matt 23)
Here is the reality. God will meet you anywhere, but He will not force Himself on you. He knocks, but He does not break the door down. He waits for humility. He waits for repentance. He waits for surrender. We ask God to bless our plans while refusing to submit to His will. We want His peace without obedience. We want His promises without repentance. But we cannot experience the fullness of God while holding on to the very things He is asking us to release.
You need not run from God. You need not hide. You need not pretend. What you need is repentance, and repentance simply means changing direction. It means stopping, turning around, and COMING HOME.
If God will meet you anywhere, stop making it hard for Him to “find” you. Stop hiding behind your sin. Stop hiding behind your busyness. Stop hiding behind your success or shame. Step into the light.
When you do, you will discover what people have always discovered when they finally turn toward God — He was never far away at all.