I will be found by you
My kids love to play hide and seek. Even as they get older, a good game of hide and seek really makes them happy. Me however, am terrified. These crime series and cold case investigations shows did not help much either, this is why I can't do those shows anymore, Marbs. I am by myself too often to be consistently jump scared by the littlest things, like the wind blowing. My nerves are on 10, especially after watching those shows.
In the game Hide and Seek, someone stands in one spot, closes and or covers their eyes, and counts, sometimes to 20, 50, or 100. Everyone else who is playing will hide, then after the counter or seeker gets to the agreed-upon number the yell, ‘ready or not, here I come.’ Well, at least they say something to alert those hiding that the seeker is now looking for them. Normally, the seeker finds all who are hidden immediately, especially if their hiding place is not very good.
Jeremiah 29:12-14 says- vs12 In those days, when you pray, I will listen. vs13If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. 14 I will be found by you,” says the Lord. “I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land.”
To be honest, when a fellow sister shared this verse in the last sisterhood study last week. I heard it, wrote it down where to find it, and then replayed in my mind, ‘I will be found.’ And it stuck with me. Rather, it confused me, but it was also so intriguing. Let me just say I really do not have much knowledge about the prophet Jeremiah and his name sake book in the bible other than the verse that people says, I know you before or while you were in your mother’s womb, not an exact quote but you can read it in Jeremiah 1:5. However, I believe I heard this verse already before the bible study, but this time the sentence ‘I will be found by you,’ might as well have come off the page and into this week’s post.
Because it isn’t it the other way around? God, should you be finding me?
The thing we often forget is that God is always there. He never leaves us. We tend to drift away from Him. We say our schedule is too busy to go to church, or to even just sit and read His word. What kinda of relationship is that? Yes, I said relationship, and Oh Marbs, this is definitely witnessing to me while I am sharing it. God wants to spend time with you. Hear all about your day, what you struggled with, what you overcame, and what you aspire to. God doesn’t want to be left out because we think that this situation may be too personal for him, or maybe he has bigger issues to handle than my tiny jealousy or heartbreak issues.
In Genesis 3:8-11, we see that God didn’t just make everything and everyone; he used to hang out with them.
8When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. 9Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
10He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.”
11“Who told you that you were naked?” the Lord God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?”
So, back to the hide-and-seek game. The seeker never leaves his position until he has finished counting, and then goes looking for the one hiding. I mean, he or she doesn’t just count and then be like this game sucks, I am not playing anymore. They go looking. Remember, God is always there in the valley and on the mountain top; we just need to spend that time getting to know Him so that we can find him.
Matthew 28:20 NLT: “Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
And that’s what the bible says, not TJ!