When my nephew was about two, he got into something his mother had already directed him away from many times. As he heard his mom’s footsteps approaching and knowing he was misbehaving, he ran to his bedroom and tried to hide.
Standing in his doorway we couldn’t help but giggle. There, curled up on the bed in full view, was Matthew. His butt in the air, hands covering his eyes, with his face planted firmly in the mattress. My sister-in-law explained her son’s thought was that if he couldn’t see us, we couldn’t see him.
Sometimes I feel like a toddler trying to hide from God. I know I should or should not be doing something, but rather than come clean and confess, I get embarrassed and try to hide. I know I am not alone in this. I see people everywhere around me trying to hide from God.
These are several excuses we use to rationalize our failure to humble ourselves and go to God in prayer, but ignoring a problem in hopes it will go away very rarely works to our advantage. Sometimes it’s mere stubbornness, but many have been deceived into thinking they are so far away from God, He doesn’t see them; or worse, He doesn’t care.
God’s Truth:
“You have searched me, LORD, and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue you, LORD, know it completely” Psalm 139:1-4.
So why is it we feel unable to go before our heavenly Father in prayer? Any “reason” usually begins with one of two deceptions:
Lie one: We need to accomplish something before He will listen.
God’s Truth:
"… God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” Romans 5:8.
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast” Ephesians 2:8-9.
“…if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin…” 2 Chronicles 7:14.
You might be thinking, “Wait, see… we must turn from our wicked ways!”
Allow me to clarify: While the first two passages are in regards to salvation through Jesus, the last verse is not referring to salvation in Christ, but to the Israelite’s (and now believer's) ongoing relationship with God the Father; and notice He asks us to repent (turn from our wicked ways) after we humble ourselves, pray and seek Him. We can try to repent on our own, and we may even be successful… for a time; but we need God’s strength to continue living godly lives.
Lie two: God is like Santa – making a list and checking it twice.
This is an enormous, yet all too common misunderstanding of who God is, His character and His ways. Some have learned this through unhealthy church teachings, some through personal experience with an earthly father, and still others through Hollywood’s misinterpretation of scripture. Often, it’s a combination of these and other “human” failings.
God’s Truth:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” John 3:16-17.
“This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” 1 John 4:10.
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death" Romans 8:1-2.
“For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship [daughter-ship]. And by him we cry, 'Abba [daddy], Father'. The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children" Romans 8:14-16.
We as humans, as parents are flawed. Our imperfect discipline sometimes causing our children to run and hide. God however, is a perfect parent. His desire is and has always been that we run to Him!
Matthew worried about his mom’s reaction to his misbehavior, but I witnessed all his apprehension and fear totally melt away once he was snuggled in his mother’s arms.
Is there something causing you to run and hide? God, your Father sees you, He understands, and He is waiting. Go get a hug!
“…would not God have discovered it, since he knows the secrets of the heart?”
Psalm 44:21
Pic: iStock/Kevron2001
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