Hiding from God

When I wake up my daughter in the morning, she pulls the covers over her head in an attempt to hide from me. In some ways this is an extension of a game we played when she was very little. In the game she would cover herself up, and I would pretend that she had disappeared. Then I would act surprised when she appeared from under the covers. It was a fun game, but of course I knew where she was the whole time.

Our attempts to hide from God are similar; he always knows where to find us. The Bible is filled with stories of people who thought they could hide from God: Adam and Eve hid in the Garden of Eden after they had eaten the forbidden fruit; Jonah hid from God when he fled to Tarshish after God told him to go to Nineveh; in secret, Judas made his agreement with the temple leaders to betray Jesus, thinking no one saw his treachery. The fact is that we can never hide from God, who is aware of all our comings and goings.

God’s omniscience is a comfort as we encounter a world filled with danger and the unknown. How wonderful it is to know that wherever we are and whenever we pray, our loving Parent sees us and knows us!

Prayer: Dear God, help us always to be comforted with the knowledge that we never need try to hide from you and that your presence is life itself. Amen