Tag Archives: seeking God

Why Is God Hiding?

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When my grandson Matthew was about two years old, he loved to play hide and seek with me. Hard-core fans of the game would have found something to be desired in his “hiding,” though.

Papa would count to ten and little Matthew would scurry off to hide behind his open bedroom door. Of course I knew where he was but I would pretend to search. (I may have peeked).

“Where’s Matthew?” I would call. “Where’s Matthew?”

And from behind the door I would hear a little voice giving me a hint. “Woo-hoo! Woo-hoo!” And, wonder of wonders, I found him. Amazing, huh?

He would either run off giggling or I might snatch him into my arms for a hug. You see, when you’re two, the game of hide and seek has a different goal. Ten-year olds want to hide so well that you can’t find them.

For two-year olds, the goal is to be found. Hold that thought.

Hide And Seek With God?

The other morning I woke up and for some reason I felt the Lord was a bit distant from me. I know this is all subjective, but I asked myself, “Did I do something wrong? It must be me, the problem.”

As I read the Bible that morning a verse leaped out, “Truly, you are a God who hides himself, O God of Israel, the Savior.” (Isaiah 45:15, ESV).

“A God who hides himself?” That’s weird, I thought.

Then I remembered little Matthew hiding behind the door. He was hiding, but he wanted to be found. Now, I may be taking the verse out of context, (it won’t be the first time I’ve been guilty of that), but the principle is true.

Maybe the feeling of estrangement I felt from God that morning wasn’t that I had done something wrong or that God was upset with me. Maybe He was hiding so I would get up and go find Him.

When a fellow finds the love of his life, he seeks to be with her. If this lover quits seeking his beloved the relationship grows stale (a word from God for some of us?) The object of his love wants him to desire to be with her.

God is like that. He wants to be wanted.

“Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord…” (Jer. 29:12, 13, ESV)

Do you feel dry spiritually, separated from His presence? Stop and listen. You hear that voice? I think it’s God.

“Woo-hoo. Woo-hoo!”

Is God Lost? Should We Look For Him?

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Monday morning a wave of agony washed across the United States as Daylight Savings Time officially slapped its 320 million residents. You can subtract the happy residents of Arizona and Hawaii plus various American territories which have had the good sense to leave their clocks alone.

For the rest of us, though, can you imagine the collective pain that wafted into earth’s atmosphere from 300 million tortured people? If you could have put all the groans together that escaped suffering throats when the alarm clock bonged, the sound would have been heard a light year away.

Little Martians would have looked up from the dust of the Red Planet and asked, “Mama, what was that?”

Actually, I had a strange question that floated through the fog that had invaded my head after the annual torture-fest. “How would King David have reacted to an ancient Daylight savings time in the Middle East?” After all, he usually hit the floor early to seek God. Continue reading →

Are You a Guided-Missile For God?

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Single-minded pursuit works …
Many sights I have seen in my long years of walking the earth. Many sights.
But, few have impressed me more than the sight of someone going after what he wants.
Once I was in a Coffee House outreach in Luxembourg City. One of the regulars was a young man in a wheel chair. He drove to the meeting place and we helped him out of his car and back into his car after the evening had finished.
The young man never said much or showed too much enthusiasm. I suppose degenerative arthritis will do that to you, especially if you’re young. (I think that was what it was).
One night he was ready to go home, so I was pushing his chair out of the coffee house when an attractive young lady came in.
Suddenly, the wheelchair took on a life of its own! It moved without me pushing it and came to a halt, right in front of the young lady. I was reminded of a guided missile zoning-in on an airplane.
Sufficient motivation can infuse muscles with unseen power, it seems.
Many other sights have impressed me. A hunting dog pursuing his prey, for instance. Or little boys running to the kitchen when mama yells, “Cookies are ready!”
Yes, yes, verily, these things have sprung to my attention in my wanderings. And I have concluded that the man or woman, boy or girl—or even a hound dog– who really wants something, goes after it.
Hard! He goes after it hard.

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