For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. Luke 19:10

Do you remember that kids' game Hide and Seek? Maybe you grew up in a big Hide and Seek family, or maybe you still play it today. As a kid, that game was so much fun. I could climb up into wild places and not be found for a very long time. I don’t remember the last time I played Hide and Seek, but eventually, I grew out of it. It lost its appeal as more complex and intriguing games took its place.Hide and Seek has its moment in almost all our lives, and yet today, it’s really only something we do with God. Yeah, didn’t you know we are constantly playing Hide and Seek with God? He is searching for us, and we are trying to hide. Some of us are really good at hiding, but once we are found, God recruits us to seek with Him.So why are we hiding? Well, for each person, that’s probably a unique answer, but the Bible helps us understand when we look at the OG hiders of humanity. Three, two, one, ready or not, here we go!

But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” Genesis 3:9

“I see you!” is what God could have said when walking in the Garden of Eden long ago. Instead, He gave the hiders a chance to reveal themselves. To be fair, that would have been a terrible way to play Hide and Seek, but Adam and Eve weren’t playing a game. They were hiding out of fear of God.They had just altered the trajectory of the universe by deciding to doubt God, disobey Him, and rebel against the God who loved them with an everlasting love. After the fall of humanity, they hid from God, and God sought them.

For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. Ezekiel 34:11

What gets me every time is that God actually sought after them. He didn't call down from the heavens with a loud voice and declare their guilt. He walked where He had walked with them before, He called out to them with the voice they had heard before, and He met His creation where they were. He sought them with love, not anger.God is way too good at Hide and Seek. He knows all the good places to hide, and yet He lets us hide. That’s the great conundrum that the world doesn’t understand about God. He lets us walk away and hide ourselves from Him. Well, when I say hide, it's more like trying to get as far away from Him as possible. Yet, with God being, well, all-knowing, it’s rather impossible to truly get away from Him.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39 

What the world doesn’t understand is that for God to be truly loving, He had to allow Adam and Eve to hide themselves. He allows us to seek a hiding place from Him because He gives us a choice. He doesn’t force us out of hiding. Instead, He patiently waits for us to say, “I’m ready to be found.” Paul says that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Jesus says that He is the Good Shepherd who will leave the 99 to go and find the one who was lost. Through the prophet Jeremiah, God says that when we seek Him with all our hearts, we will find Him.

For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. John 4:23

God loves to be the One searching, but that doesn’t mean He loves the game. In fact, God’s whole mission with humanity after sin entered the world was to end this silly game once and for all. He doesn’t want His creation to hide from Him. He wants to be with His children.This was the purpose of the tabernacle in Exodus, the purpose of the temple that Solomon built, and the purpose of Immanuel, God with us. God’s great desire is to walk with us again in the Garden. This time, there will be no fear and no hiding.

So why do we hide? Is it shame, fear, guilt, or anger? Maybe it's a combination of things that has led you to seek the furthest possible corner of the world from God. Maybe you know someone who is hiding from God right now.The God who loves us wants us to choose to be found. He is right there, waiting for us to say, “Please find me.” He has recruited others who have been found to seek out the lost and testify of the Good Shepherd.God, in His infinite love and wisdom, knows where you are. He is ready to exclaim, “I see you!” Will you let Him?