Humanity has been playing hide-and-seek with God since the Fall. Thankfully, in Christ, that game is over.

3 min read

When the kids were little, we would often play a quick game of hide-and-seek before bedtime. It cracked me up how in their little minds they would think they were hidden from my sight as long as they could not see me. Their little feet and wiggling toes would be sticking out from under the blankets, but as long as their faces were covered, they thought they were safely hidden. “You can’t find me!” they would say.

And I would play along.

The game would not be over until they took the blanket off of their heads and I yelled “Oh, there you are!”

The Original

The Bible says that after Adam and Eve sinned and God approached, their reaction was to hide. Or at least they tried to hide.

“When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the LORD God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the LORD God among the trees. (Genesis 3:8)

It seems that God played along with Adam and Eve’s game for a minute, even though He knew full well where they were. Rather than saying something like “Enough of the nonsense you two, come out into the open,” God asked, “Where are you?” (v. 9).

Adam’s reply to God went like this:

I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked (v. 10).

It is interesting that rather than exposing Adam and Eve against their will, God waited for them to reveal themselves. This is still the way God relates to us in our vulnerable moments. He asks us, Where are you? and awaits our reply.

Find Me, Please

There’s another story of hide-and-seek in the Gospels. A woman with a long-term illness was desperate for the healing power of Jesus. But because of fear and shame, rather than openly asking Jesus for help, she quietly slipped up behind him to touch “the fringe of his robe” (Luke 8:44) and then slipped back into the shadows where no one could find her.

Jesus asked, “Who touched me?” (v. 45) and waited for a response.

And waited.

Finally, “When the woman realized that she could not stay hidden, she began to tremble and fell to her knees in front of him” (v. 47).

How relieved she must have been when the game of hiding was finally over. Jesus called her “Daughter,” and declared “Your faith has made you well. Go in peace” (v. 48).

She was healed. Her life was forever changed. The hemorrhaging stopped, but so did the hiding. She discovered that not only was it impossible to hide from the Healer; it was also unnecessary.

Is the Game Over?

When we have trust issues, and most of us do, it can be difficult to reveal ourselves to anyone, but particularly God.

How about you, are you comfortable stepping out into the open before Him? Or does insecurity keep you behind the trees?

Like kids in a game of hide-and-seek, we all want to be found, even when we’re hiding. We want to be seen. We want to be known.

Yet, it’s scary.

Would it help to know that He already sees what we feel compelled to cover? And yet, He hasn’t changed his mind about us. He still wants the relationship. When we feel most hideous about ourselves, he still says “Where are you?”

For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:21

In Christ, we can be secure in the holy love of God, even when our cover has been completely blown. He sees our feet sticking out.

The sooner we realize that we cannot stay hidden forever, the sooner we will experience what it feels like to be genuinely loved…like it was always meant to be.

It’s a new day with God. Run with it.