Hide-and-Seek
You remember being a kid? Like a little kid? Kids are so funny, especially when they play hide-and-seek. My little girl hides in the same place every time we play. I will have just found her, I’m closing my eyes, starting to count, and she goes right back to the same place. My little boy, while two years older and wiser, will hide in different spaces, but once he has been there for 15 seconds or so, he will start making noises, leading me to his spot. The amazing thing about kids and this game is that they want to be found. That is the whole point. The point is not to win; it is to be found by the one who loves you.
And it’s the same with keeping secrets. We’ll buy a secret present for someone. We’ll agree not to talk about it. We’ll walk in the door and they’ll walk right up to that person, saying, “Guess what we got you? A candle!” Or whatever the incredible gift we chose was. They can’t even get to their room without spilling the beans. They will share their favorite secrets. They will even tell us when they’ve done something wrong. It is naturally in their nature to be known.
Many times I wish we held on to this attitude as we grow up. Instead we learn to deceive and practice secrecy. And I mean practice! We get better and better at it until even those closest to us only know part of who we are. And then we feel alone. I wonder what my life would be like if I wanted to be found. If I trusted the One who loves me. I wonder what my world would look like if I came seeking to share those places that I could easily hide in the dark? If I looked forward to “spilling the beans”?
“For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light.”
Luke 8:17 (ESV)
God already knows our secrets, but He still wants us to cry, “Search me and know me, O God!” There is something amazing that happens when a child seeks to be found by their Father.
Todd