Hide and Seek

My niece Melody loves a good game of hide and seek. She'll tell you to go hide, then watch where you go. She's got the counting down, but isn't great at hiding. She's a little like her Mama, whose giggles would often give her away.

It's one of the first games we learn as a child...

you'd almost say it's human nature.

And hiding is. It's one of the first things we see in the garden, after the fall of man.

Adam, ashamed of his nakedness, hides in the bushes... from an omnipotent God, who knows all things. Who knew before he took the bite of the fruit that he was going to.

Instead of calling Adam out (like Jesus did Zaccheus), God gives Adam a chance to come clean.

"Where are you?"- He asked.

And Adam, ashamed, came out and told God, in a few other words, "I was naked and ashamed so I hid myself."

How often do we take the childish game to a higher level and do just as Adam did?

I'm ashamed... so I'll hide.
I'm not worthy... so I'll hide.
I'm scared... so I'll hide.

You fill in the blank. Even when we seem to be living out loud, we're hiding behind a mask that says "I'm fine". We hide our true selves and present another version to the world, often because of shame.

There's another instance in the Bible that tells of a man ashamed. Isaiah, a prophet of God, comes face to face with His Lord. "Woe is me!"- he says, "for I am a man of unclean lips."

He knows his situation. He knows the situation of his people, too... how they had fallen away from God. He feels shame... complete and utter devastation. Woe.... sorrow.

But God redeems, Him, too. Just as He covered Adam's shame with animal skins, He sends His angel with a hot coal to purify the uncleanliness of Isaiah's lips. And then He says, "Who shall I send?"

Not "where are you", because He knows where Isaiah is... but it's not really about where we are. It's about where we'll go.

"Who shall I send?" because somebody needs to go. Somebody needs to serve, and love, and preach.

"Who shall I send?"

"Here am I, send me" Isaiah bravely answers.

"Here am I!"

Lord, here am I, willing. I've been hiding... and always you've been seeking. Pursuing. Never giving up.

So it's my turn. I'll not bother hiding my eyes, because I want to see you.
I'll not bothering counting to ten, because I want to find you.

Here am I, Lord, seeking You.

"And you will seek me and find me if you seek with your whole heart."