Divine Hide and Seek
TiffanyAnn Lewis

One of my favorite memories is summertime as a child.  After dinner the doorbell would ring and I’d hear “can Tiffany come out and play?”  We would all get together for a neighborhood game of hide and seek.  As the darkness began to fall, the game got more interesting by concealing places that would have been too obvious in the daylight.  “1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10 ready or not here I come!”  There you hide with great anticipation as you wait to reveal your most awesome hiding place.  You’d make a peep now and again to help be found if necessary, so you can finally run free, laughing, with your friend following closely at your heels.

So what interrupted this summer fun?  My parents voice loudly saying, “TIFFANYANN - YOU ARE GROUNDED!” 

What gets us grounded?  Sin.  I’ve heard it said that it’s easier to do what you want and ask for forgiveness after verses permission before.  Ask Adam and Eve how well that works.  Then ask them how it felt when they heard God at the door of the garden calling out to them; “Hello?  Where are you?  Do you wanna’ come out and play?”  This time they didn’t want to be found. (Gen. 2:8-10)

God didn’t make it exceptionally hard for them to obey Him.  He simply said; “of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat…” (Gen. 2:16-17)  When the devil began his line of confusing questions, Eve should have known better.  God had given the command not to eat of one tree and that should have been enough for her.  She should have just said “get thee behind me Satan” but as we all know, she didn’t.  She could have simply said “hold on…let me check with God.”  I don’t see any harm in asking, double checking if necessary.  I only see harm in not asking and doing it anyway. 

It’s so simple, yet why then do we get it so wrong?  My guess is we must be forgetting the seeking part of the game.  God did not say; “seek Me in vain” so that we would run around in circles trying to get it right. (Is. 45:19)   Jesus said ask, seek and knock and it will be opened to you. (Matt 7:7)  We can ask and knock and think we’ve done it correctly.   However, if we have lacked the seeking part we could very well be laying our own hand to the situation, being deceived into thinking that God is opening the door before us.  We wonder why things have gone askew afterwards and the next thing we know is we’re asking and knocking for Him to fix what’s been messed up. 

We rationalize things in our brain, justifying our actions with the limited knowledge we have of God.  Knowing enough of the scriptures to make a decision but not seeking it out to get God’s full scope on the issue at hand.  That’s what King David did when he tried moving the ark of God into Jerusalem. (1Chron. 13)  David knew the ark was to be moved into the city and that Levites were to have something to do with it.  He knew that there should be dancing and praising and took the proper steps of consulting with the captains and leaders.  David got a lot of advice; he just didn’t get God’s.  He built a brand spankin’ new cart to carry the ark upon and off they went to bring the ark of God into the city.  Uzza, one of the guys driving the cart, reached out to keep the ark from falling to the ground when the ox stumbled.  The anger of the Lord struck him dead because he had put his hand to the ark.  A good thing turned into a deadly thing because David didn’t seek the wisdom that comes from above. (James 3:17)  

Wisdom is one of the seven Spirits of God. (Is. 11:2)  Wisdom is a Person calling out loud (Prov. 1:20) saying “my son if you receive my (Wisdom’s) words, and treasure my (Wisdom’s) commands within you so that you incline your ear to Wisdom, and apply your heart to (Wisdom’s) understanding; Yes if you cry out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding; if you seek her (Wisdom) as silver, and search for her (Wisdom) as for hidden treasures; then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.” (Prov. 2:1-5 parenthesis mine)

 David heard Wisdom calling and he sought the Lord on how to transport the ark.  He discovered his folly of consulting with men, though they may have been godly men he should have consulted with God too.  Godly counsel is good but it should never replace seeking God’s counsel.  David learned that God had given the directions for carrying the ark back in Exodus 25 and it was to be on the shoulders of the Levites, not on a cart.  God didn’t make it hard to find, David just needed to seek it out. 

How many times have we done something only to say; “if only I had done it this way” or “I should have known better?”  Hindsight is 20/20.  It’s easy to see the wisdom of Adam, Eve and David’s decisions, but I want to be changed by what I am learning not simply learn something. 

God is One Who hides Himself. (Is. 45:15)  He promises to be found when we seek Him with all our heart. (Jer. 29:13)  He has made darkness His secret place (Ps. 18:11), His Wisdom is calling out to us (Prov. 1:20) desiring to be found so we can be free at last to run after Him laughing at His heels. 

“Ready or not Lord, here I come.”