Hide 'n' Seek

Yesterday I was playing hide and seek outside with my youngest son and the little boy I babysit. Playing hide and seek with 2 three-year olds is not a difficult task - I found myself sitting behind a mesh deck chair "hiding" from them repeatedly. It's almost as if they realized that if I hid somewhere else they might not find me...and for them each time they found me was just as exciting as the first time! And truth be told, I was just as happy to sit there on the deck pretending to be hidden in a deep, dark forest where they couldn't find me. It was a nice sunny day, and I was content to just sit there until they were satisfied that I had been "found" enough. Then these two little boys would take turns counting while the other would sit beside me and hide, but because we also had to hide from each other, we had to put our head in our hands on our laps (somewhat easier said than done for this almost 40 year old!!)...because apparently "out of sight, out of mind" was still a working concept for these young seekers!! After a number of rounds of this "I can't see you" hiding, my little guy pipes up and says, "OK, now it's God's turn to count!" Without getting into the theological backlash of wanting to hide from God, I asked him just that, "You mean you want to hide and have God count?" "Yes, Mommy, God is going to count and find us." His little friend says, "God can't count", to which my little wise Gator responded, "Yes he can. God can count forever. He loves you, ya know. God loves you 'N', he does!" N just laughed and ran off, but I thought, wow...my three year old has it down...God can count (to forever!) and he WILL find me and he DOES love me.

How often do I want to hide from God hoping that, or maybe pretending that, He can't count? Especially when the reality is that He will count to "forever" until I am found? It's kind of like hiding behind a mesh deck chair. It didn't take much for the kids to find me - they could see me through the chair. And it doesn't take much for God to see me either. In fact I can't hide deep enough or dark enough or far enough from Him. The Bible says that nothing can seperate us from the love of God...NOTHING. And that is a truth I take great comfort in.

I enjoy playing hide and seek with my kids, but I'd rather just be found in God...no counting necessary.