In currently doing a slow read through the Proverbs, I stumbled over a verse that seemed to jump off the page this morning. “The one who searches for what is good seeks favor, but if someone looks for trouble, it will come to him” (11:27). In tossing this verse around in my head and mulling over the word “seek” it got me thinking about a beloved childhood game. Children love to play hide and seek, my children included. Oftentimes, many arguments happen between them regarding who gets to be the “hider” and who gets to be the “seeker.” Either job having the added benefit of a seemingly upper hand, the hider gets to plan a secret place where they hope to not be found, while the seeker freely moves around to search every possible, predicted hiding spot. There is something about the butterflies that turn your stomach upside down in anxiousness, as the hider awaits to be found by the seeker. As the hider, you always hope to outsmart the seeker in your secret spot and sometimes you are successful. You hear the seeker bellow begrudgingly, “I give up!” In a game in which the hider wins, the seeker looked in the wrong place- they assumed all the incorrect locations the hider may be tucked away. 

In various seasons of life, I resonate so deeply with the role of the hider. I hope that my sins stay in the dark and my shame will be silently suppressed. I do not wish to be exposed or sought in times like these. But God doesn’t let me hide. As a child of his, he is always seeking his children to lovingly remind them they are seen and forgiven. He is the ultimate seeker, the hide and seek champion, the one who knows all the secret places we try to go to escape difficult things. In my sanctification, I desire to be more like him, a seeker. Day by day, breath by breath, I long to grow in his mercy, love, and holiness. But to be a seeker, I must first seek him. I must seek to confess sin and worry and shame. I must seek to grow in my understanding of him through his Word. I must seek to deepen my relationship with him through a consistent, vulnerable prayer life. 

So today, I will not hide crouched down, hoping against hope. I will seek to meet him in all things, knowing there is no place he can’t reach to find me anyway.