Hide and Seek

God may be hidden, but He is not hiding.

Hide-and-go-seek – remember the game, trying to find the best place, under the stairs, up the tree, or behind the garage? The idea was not to be found. I was never very good at that game.

I want you to know that God doesn’t play games with us. He doesn’t hide from us. His love and His care may be hidden from us by all of the world’s confusion and noise, pain and wickedness. But He promises us that He is not hiding from us. In His scripture we read:

. . . . He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too

will love him and show myself to him.”  John 14:21

God wants us to see Him, to know Him. He’s made his character known, not only in the Bible, but in the world around us.

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities

—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, 

being understood from what has been made. . .   Romans 1:20

So if you wonder where He is, please know and trust that He’s there with you. Look at the rainbow and see his promise and His majesty. Listen to the word of truth when He says “I will love you.” And let yourself be found by Him.

What Defines You?

Remember the children’s story in which the queen looks in her mirror every day and asks, “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?”

Everything seemed to be okay as long as the mirror confirmed that she was the most beautiful women in the kingdom. However, one day the mirror came up with another answer and the queen became obsessed with ridding the kingdom of her rival. Jealousy reigned.

When we focus on what others think of us, whether it be a person or a magic mirror, trouble will come to our kingdom.

Who should define us? What should define us? There are three stories that we play a role in – our own story, Christ’s story, and the world’s story.

We have to play a part in each of these. We are alive, we live and move and think. Therefore we have a life story which must connect with both Christ’s story, and the world’s.

If we identify too closely with the world, we begin to look into its mirror and desire the admiration of the world. We want to live up to society’s definition of beautiful or smart or good.

But if we draw close to Christ and look into His mirror, we will want to be more like Him. We will live and move and think in a way that pleases Him. I’ve found that when I’m with someone I admire, my mannerism and voice unconsciously tend to mirror theirs. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we acted and sounded like our Savior without even thinking about it? It can happen, if we spend a lot of time with Him and if we truly love and admire Him – if we allow Him to define us.

Jesus is the Vine, we are the branches.

John 15:5

(NIV1984)

I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

He's With Us in the Morning

What has your morning brought today? Did God show you His unfailing love?

Maybe you’re like me, and you struggled to get out of bed and moving today. If that’s true, we can find the answer together. After my exercises and breakfast, I sat down and did a little Bible study. Unless I’m working on my class or writing something, my studies aren’t really too in-depth, but today I thought about God giving us sign posts. As I looked that up in my online Bible, I found this verse and it really spoke to me.

Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,
for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go,
for to you I lift up my soul.

Psalm 143:8 (NIV)

Isn't that beautiful?  "Let the morning bring me word of your unfialing love,"  What a great way to greet the day.

It’s true that today, my morning didn’t start out with an outbreak of songs of praise. It’s also true that I didn’t feel particularly loved (or lovely.) But when I began to listen to my Father, I was able to rest in His unfailing love and my spirits were lifted. I find that when I listen to Him, look into His Book, I can find the way to live my life joyfully, and where to put the next step.

God loves you with an unfailing love, no matter what you see when you look into the mirror.

Have a blessed day.