Lent 2021 – We Can’t Hide From God

Psalm 139:7

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?

I was visiting recently at the home of one of my daughters. Her children and I played hide-and-seek. They hid and I went looking for them. They did a good job of hiding. But – each time I found them. It didn’t hurt that the youngest would chime up when I said – oh where oh where could my sweet granddaughters be. She would say – here I am pop. It was fun playing with them.

We love having the children and grandchildren over to the house. That is something we look forward to when this pandemic is over – more and more. We used to have regular visits on Sunday afternoons at the McDonald estate (LOL)! My mom and dad would be pleased! Our three daughters and their husbands and our 6 grands – soon to be 7 grands – we have a grand time. We also have spent some vacation time together at Deep Creek and other places.

Shining In the Darkness

Matthew 5:14

You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.

Have you ever been camping? A small lamp on a picnic table can be a bright light throughout the campground. It is can be a beacon for the family as they go to the campground shower – on their walk back to your site.

Have you ever walked home keeping the house porch light in sight? I remember mom and dad telling us to be home when the streetlights came on at night. We used the yellow light (a bug light) on our porch as a beacon to come home.

Have you ever played hide-and-seek at night? It can be pretty dark and hard to see. We used to play hide-and-seek in a cemetery next door to our home when we were young. A flashlight was often used. You needed to shine the flashlight on a person and identify them to catch them.

We Cannot Hide From God

Psalm 139:7

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?

I was visiting over the weekend to the home of one of my daughters. Here children and I played hide-and-seek. They hid and I went looking for them. They did a good job of hiding for 5 and almost 3. But each time I found them. It didn’t hurt that the 3-year-old would chime up with I said – oh where oh where could my sweet granddaughters be. She would say – here I am pop. It was fun playing with them.

The kids were over Sunday afternoon. We may begin a regular tradition of family time at our home on Sunday afternoons. All three of our daughters are now in Maryland along with our two sons and five granddaughters. Family time at the McDonald estate on Sunday afternoons! My mom and dad would be pleased!

God Sees All Things

Psalm 139:2

You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.

I remember playing hide-and-seek as a child. It was fun – hiding from your friends and hoping they couldn’t find you. When we played at my home growing up (the parsonage at Mt. Zion) – we had a cemetery next door and it was always fun to hide there because my cousins and friends wouldn’t come looking in the cemetery. If they did brave the walk through the cemetery – it was easy to get them to run out by making noises like a ghost. I usually won the game because they wouldn’t stay in the cemetery long enough to find me!

I remember playing capture the flag as a youth at Seat Pleasant UMC (now Gethsemane UMC). We would hide in the dark and try to get behind enemy lines. We would crawl along the outskirts of the field and even into the woods – to stay hidden. We would spring up and run for our side of the field with their flag.

God Knows Our Hearts

1 Chronicles 28:9

“And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.”

Have you ever-played hide and seek? I’ve written about this before – we use to play hide and seek when we were children – and I would hide in the cemetery next to the parsonage where we lived. In the dark – no one would come into the cemetery looking for me. If they did – I would make spooky sounds and scare them away. I knew they wouldn’t come or would be scared off. I knew how they thought. I could hide from them because I knew their limits – I knew where they would look for me and where they would not!

Does anyone know you that well?  Maybe your spouse of 34+ years knows you pretty well.  Maybe your parents or your children know you pretty well.  Maybe there are friends you have gotten to know over the years that know you pretty well – in limited situations.  But does anyone know you better than you know yourself?  God does!