6-14-2024

Good Morning All,

         Genesis 3:9; “But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”

      When our oldest grandson was just a toddler, Grandma and I would babysit once in a while.  Grandma and I did a tag team; she watched him in the morning while I took the afternoon shift.  After a while, we played hide and go seek.  If he had enough time, he would get behind a chair or behind a bed and hide fairly well.  He wasn’t the quietest but not too terrible.  But if you were to quick count him and yell, “Ready or not; here I come!” before he was ready; he would panic.  He would either put a blanket or a pillow over his face or, if nothing was available, he would put his hands over his face and close his eyes. A couple of times, he would try and blend in with a door and press up against it as tightly as he could.

    Sometimes I wonder if we do that with God; do we stand in the middle of the living room with our hands over our eyes.  We think we are hiding from God.  Why do you think about hiding?  Do you have some past events which you feel a lot of guilt about?  Do you have current events that you wish were not occurring?  Maybe you let the conversation go a little to the gossip side of the discussion and now can’t figure out how to stop it.  Maybe you are speaking and then you felt like trying to grab those words back, but it won’t happen.  We all have those things in our life that we regret and usually repent when we see the pain that it is causing.

    But what if you are standing in the living room and you don’t feel like anyone sees you?  What if you don’t want to hide but it feels like no one sees you?  You might even feel like jumping up and down.  The effects of life have you spinning around.  Instead of you doing things, things are done to you.  Maybe your spouse had some harsh words or worse has just shut down and turns the other way.  Maybe your boss has made some comments about your skill or that he thinks he can replace you with a cheaper worker.  Maybe that persistent cough has become more.  Maybe mom or dad is really struggling with living alone and you are the only one around.  What happens when it feels like you are hiding, and you want to be seen? 

    First know that God is searching for you.  He seeks you out every minute of every day.  One of our greatest struggles in life is that we focus on the struggle.  We need to remember God’s promise to us.  We need to remember that struggles in this life don’t last forever and even if we feel like we are hidden from God, we are seen by God in plain sight.  We are not hidden, not even a little hidden from God.  His eye is upon us, and his love is poured out on us.  He never leaves us.  His love embraces us and gives us hope, even when the battles of this life seem so daunting; God’s mercy holds us up.

Father of love, you see me even if the world wants to hide me.  You see my pain and give me hope.  You see my fears and send your Spirit of comfort.  You see my sorrow and give me the certainty of your mercy.  Lift my eyes to see your incredible love.  Keep me safe in your arms.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret