BIBLE VERSE OF THE DAY: And those you know Your name will put their trust in You; for You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You. - Psalm 9:10
Real Life Hide-and-Seek
by Jennifer Waddle
In the childhood game of hide-and-seek, the seeker looks for those who are hiding, but if he can’t find them, he throws his hands up in defeat. In the game of life, however, those who seek the Lord find Him, for He is not hiding from men, but rather standing in plain sight. Sadly, there are many who refuse to be the seeker. Fooled by self-sufficiency, they’ve convinced themselves they have no need to look for the Savior. Instead, they carry on with a sense of independence, self-confidence, and pride.
Admitting the need for a Savior is not a sign of weakness. Rather, it is the yielding of one’s life to the magnificent purpose of the Creator, who loves them and longs to draw them near. The Lord does not forsake those who seek Him.
Well-known author, C.S. Lewis, struggled with this very thing. He wrote in his autobiography, Surprised by Joy, that on three separate occasions he felt a “sudden, piercing pang of longing─a bittersweet ache and yearning for something far-off…” Later, he wrote about his reluctance to convert to Christianity, and described himself as“kicking, struggling, resentful, and darting his eyes in every direction for a chance to escape.” (Read more here.)
The beautiful thing about the real-life game of hide-and-seek is that the seeker is always the winner. He or she never comes up empty-handed, unable to find what they are looking for.
But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. Deuteronomy 4:29
Deep down, in the soul of every person, there is an empty hole that can never be filled by anything else. Wealth, notoriety, or self-sufficiency will never completely fulfill the longing of every person’s heart. Only the all-consuming, everlasting love of the Father, made manifest in His Son, Jesus Christ, can make a person whole. And those who know His name, and put their trust in Him, will, in the end, find much more than they ever thought possible.
For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:14-19.
Jennifer Waddle considers herself a Kansas girl, married to a Colorado hunk, with a heart to encourage women everywhere. She is the author of several books, including Prayer WORRIER: Turning Every Worry into Powerful Prayer, and is a regular contributor for LifeWay, Crosswalk, Abide, and Christians Care International. Jennifer’s online ministry is EncouragementMama.com where you can find her books and sign up for her weekly post, Discouragement Doesn’t Win. She resides with her family near the foothills of the Rocky Mountains—her favorite place on earth.
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