Saturday, August 4, 2012

Hide and Seek


 “Where can I go from your spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?” (Psalm 139:7)

Do you remember playing hide and seek when you were a young child? As a child, it was the coolest thing in the world to find that perfect spot and elude the seekers for as long as possible! I have fond memories of playing this game in which I would try to hide in a place where no one could find me. As the years pass and we grow older we play a similar game in which we try and hide from God and people; we don’t want them to get to know us completely because we are afraid they will discover something about us that they won’t like. Well, we may be able to hide many things from other people, but we can’t hide anything from God!


“If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.” (Psalm 139:8)

How often do we forget (or try to forget) that we can’t hide from God? He is present everywhere, and we cannot hide ourselves anywhere that He will not see us; He sees us even when we think we are hidden. There is no place to hide from a God who knows every hiding spot; everything is wide open to His all-seeing eyes! It’s kind of unfair in a game of hide and seek, but then again, this really isn’t a game anymore, is it?



“If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.” (Psalm 139: 9-10)

To say that God is present everywhere is just a way of saying that there is nowhere a person could go to escape God’s presence. This is good news to me! It means that no matter where we go or what we do, we can never be far from His comforting presence. Without Him our world would spin out of control! He uses His hand to show us so much gentleness and kindness, and is with us in every situation to protect, love, and guide us.

”If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me’, even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.” (Psalm 139:11-12)

God helps us by illuminating the way before us; He shines His light on our pathways to keep us from falling or tripping. He has called us into His light, and we no longer have to hide and live in darkness. He may not let us see everything His light illuminates right this minute, but He wants us to come out from hiding and learn to trust Him with what we can’t see and He can, knowing that He will help us walk forward, step by step in the warmth of His light, and clothe us with peace, hope, and truth.





Linking up on Spiritual Sunday and with Joan on Sharing His Beauty
Beauty in His Grip Button

17 comments:

  1. Very good post Denise. So true about hiding. We can hide from all except God. But I finally figured out...why would I want too? Because as you said...Without Him our world would spin out of control! He uses His hand to show us so much gentleness and kindness, and is with us in every situation to protect, love, and guide us. These are good words to start my weekend off with!
    Blessings to you. Have a great and "safe" weekend!
    Thank you for praying...Chelle

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  2. Sweetly shared! I especially like the the safest place I know picture...

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  3. When I was a little girl I love d to play hid and seek...but when I saw it His word that we can't hide from God for HE sees everything, that is amazing. Even when I grew up and found out what my calling was in life I thought I could hide from it, I remember running as if God can't find me..We sure do some of the craziest things don't we? Great post Denise, I hope you and your family have a great weekend..

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  4. I love this post Denise!
    As believers we have the Holy spirit within us at all times...impossible to hide from, yet we still do try at times! We forget how trustworthy and how loving God is...although He does sternly discipline His children also. We are never far from His heart nor are we out of His sight.
    ~God Bless~ Lisa

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  5. Thank goodness we are not hidden from God and He knows exactly where we are! Beautiful post Denise.

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  6. Thank you Denise, for this fascinating post. Yes, sometimes I play hide and seek with God. Because I am so confused about something, I do not know how I should say to God. Your blog shows me clearly that He is there. He wants to clear our darkness. Thank you dear friend, far away.

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  7. I have those verses in Psalm 139 highlighted and have written, "I don't want to hide from you - you are my God!" in the margin. I love that God knows all about us and sees everything...but then loves us anyway! There was a time (prior to me highlighting the verses) that I didn't want Him to see me. But, when I discovered His loving forgiveness, I was relieved that no matter where I went, He would be there to find me.

    Blessings to you, Denise! Joan

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  8. Amen! I thank God that it is through His light that I no longer need to live in darkness! I believe one thing I've learn is that I need to know the character of God, that He loves me and has mercy on me at times I failed, and I also cannot take His grace for granted. :)

    It'e been awhile since I visited your blog, but thank God that He has always been encouraging me through your blog. Glory to God!

    God bless ya Denise! :D

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  9. Hi Denise - one could also say that God is always there for us. And yes, its pointless to hide. He is everywhere.
    God bless friend, great post
    Tracy

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  10. I've never thought of that Psalm the way I'm doing now. The words are beautiful and it's so poetic. It's consoles the soul and renews hope.

    I can hear you talking. It's just beautiful how you put this post together. Something for me to think about before I sleep tonight.

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  11. this is a lesson I try and remember myself and drill into my kids...we cannot hide from God...we can get away with many things that the world will not know...stealing lying cheating etc...but God knows, and we cannot hide.

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  12. This is one of my favorite verses because as a young child I knew I could never get away from God, yet he still loved me.

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  13. I love your post...and it's for real. That hit me the most. thanks Denise.

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  14. I do believe being thankful and praising God changes the spiritual atmosphere around us as well as our hearts within us.

    I started recording thankfulness on a separate blog from E1A but I only post on E1A once/twice per week and update this other blog then too... therefore, I'm not getting into a good habit of thanksgiving this way.

    I am going to start using a notebook which I purchased recently for this purpose.

    Loved reading your post Denise... you always post something which challenges or stirs my heart in the things of God.

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  15. Wow Denise! Hitting 1000 on your blessings list in only two months tells me that you are girl after God's own heart! Good for you. I need to write my blessings down every day. I've been keeping a thanksgiving/blessing list for many months but I haven't written them down every day and I know that recording them daily would be so uplifting.

    I've recently gone through some tough things at work and have found myself getting a bit down, but do know the quickest way to bring my countenance back up is to count my many blessings!!
    Thanks for the reminder Denise.

    Hugs,
    ♥Lee Ann

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  16. Thanks, Denice! I needed to be reminded of that today.

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