"Seeking God"

Have you ever played hide and seek?

One person hides and another searches. The thrill of seeking and finding someone, or anxiously waiting to be found, make this a popular game among little ones. 

One day my son wanted me to play hide and seek with him. He wanted to hide, of course. I told him to go ahead, and I counted to 20 to give him a chance to get good and “hidden” in the same spot he always chose.

As I started to seek him I noticed his younger sister, 2 years old at the time, making an awful mess with a Sharpie all over herself and everything around her. I panicked, snatched the marker away from her, and scooped  her up in my arms to take her to the bathtub. In my haste to get the Sharpie off before it became more permanent all over her hands, belly, and legs, I completely forgot I was the middle of a game of hide-and-seek with my son! After scrubbing all the Sharpie off my daughter and getting her dressed, it hit me that my son was still patiently waiting in his spot for me to find him. Guilt hit me hard when I went to his little hiding spot in the empty bathtub of our master bathroom, pulled back the shower curtain, and found his bright blue eyes and excited smile beaming at me. I told him I was so sorry it had taken so long, and he reassured me it was OK. I couldn’t help but think about how, with each passing minute he had to wait, the excitement of being sought decreased a little. Nevertheless, when I finally found him, he was still ready and waiting to finish the game.

When I read Jeremiah 29:13 this week during my study, I couldn’t help but think about this game of hide-and-seek, and the similarities in my relationship with the Lord.

You know, our relationship with God is not a game, and he certainly doesn’t hide from us, but the Bible does call for us to seek Him. And how often do we become distracted by something else and forget to do the seeking?

Just like my son was anxiously awaiting my appearance, God is always waiting for us. He doesn't move around or change places on us. He is always right where we met with Him last, excitedly waiting for us to come back and seek Him again. That’s right, I said excitedly waiting. You see, God enjoys our fellowship. That’s what he created us for! Imagine how it saddens Him with each passing hour, day, week, or month that we become distracted and forget to seek him. Imagine his longing, when he sees us rushing about and piling on all the cares and worries of this world, for us to just seek Him so He can help us, fellowship with us, remind and reassure us of His love and power and mercy. And when we do seek Him and find Him, that’s just what he does. Like my son, even after waiting for us for too long, He is always happy to see us.