Most of us have played the game before.  Pretty basic idea.  One person counts while the rest hide and when the counter gets to 10…well, “ready or not!”  When my daughter first started playing this game she would hide in the same place over & over again.  She would run into her dad’s closet and slam the door behind her, giggling the whole time.

After a few rounds of her hiding in the exact same spot my oldest became frustrated.  “This really isn’t very fun mom, I know exactly where she is!” he said. So, I encouraged her to try a new hiding spot. But, she thought she had stumbled upon something pretty great and she wasn’t about to give it up to try and find a new spot.  And so, my oldest continued the game of pretending he didn’t know where she was hiding.

Recently, I was struggling with some things that had me playing my own grown-up version of the game with God.  I had my favorite “hiding spot” and I was camping out, hoping he wouldn’t find me.  Of course that’s as silly as my daughter believing that her brother didn’t know where she was hiding. But, I was letting myself believe that He couldn’t see all the ugly that I was trying so hard to hide.  Truth be told, I thought I had found the perfect hiding spot. And God was probably thinking the same thing as my oldest son. “This really isn’t very fun, I know exactly where you are!”

Have you ever come to a point where you realize the “ugly & messy” that you need to deal with is gonna take some time and some serious effort on your part?  I could feel the depth of it and I knew it was something that had been growing over the years.  Something that wasn’t gonna just be plucked out of my life with a simple prayer.  It was something that was going to need some uprooting, some tilling & some cultivating. And that’s always hard….it’s usually messy…and it’s definitely not fun.  And so I was kind of stuck in “hide out” mode, hoping I could just ignore it and go on with things.  But, the faithful seeker that He is, he kept looking.  And in that gentle & quiet way that He loves to speak, he dropped some questions into my heart. “Why are you hiding this from me?” “Is it really any easier trying to hide it than it would be to trust me with it, to talk to me about it, and to let me help you with it?”

He wasn’t walking around trying to figure out where I was.

He was trying to figure out why I was trying to hide something that He could see.

I think we do this a lot in our lives. We have things that we’re ashamed of or we feel guilty about. Areas where we’re still in the learning process & haven’t quite mastered yet.  And it seems many times our first instinct is to head straight to the closet, slam the door and hide out.  But, “ready or not, here He comes”…to remind us that He’s great at “messy”.  To remind us that he’s got a great track record of taking the “painfully difficult” and making it bearable.  To teach us that to wrestle with it is part of the process.  And maybe, even to tell us that in the midst of our ugliness, He sees something beautiful in us. So, if you’re working through something that’s kinda messy or kinda ugly, know that He already sees it & He loves you regardless.  Don’t bother with the hide & seek games, He’s standing right beside you.

Acts 17:24 “Starting from scratch, he made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable, with plenty of time and space for living so we could seek after God, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find him.  He doesn’t play hide-and-seek with us. He’s not remote; he’s near.  We live and move in him, can’t get away from him!”

It’s that time of year again.  The leaves have turned & with them the temperatures, signaling a time to once again reflect and give thanks. The weather has changed & with it so have we.  Instead of going outside & enjoying our time outdoors we start to retreat inside to our warm, cozy houses. And kind of parallel to nature, our hearts start retreating as well.  Nights are darker earlier & we find ourselves with a little more time to sit in our favorite spot in the house &  enjoy the quiet.  Time in solitude is naturally conducive to reflection. And so, we find ourselves thinking back over the past year and all of the “mountain tops” & “valleys” we’ve experienced along the way.  For some this year has been their hardest yet.  This past year has held deep hurts & longings unfulfilled.  There are those who have lost loved ones this past year and the pain is still raw.  For still others the past year has been filled with hope & restoration, perhaps even new beginnings. But no matter which of these you find yourself identifying with, this one thing is true for all of us:  “Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.”  Psalms 136:1

We have this hope.  Whether we are in a place where we can actually “feel” that way or not is entirely separate from the FACT that it is true.  We serve a God who is good & who is steadfast: fixed in intensity or direction; unswerving devotion; marked by firm determination or resolution. These are words that descirbe his love for us, love that endures forever!  If there were ever anything to give thanks for, this is it. So, whether you find yourself today trudging through a valley or enjoying that amazing mountaintop view, his steadfast love is there with you.

I watched a movie last night, kind of a new favorite of mine.  It’s called An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving and it’s based off of the book by Louisa May Alcott. Such a great movie, especially this time of year.  It’s a great reminder that the basics, like love and family, are the things that matter most.  The beginning of the book starts like this: “They were poor in money, but rich in land and love, for the wide acres of wood, corn and pasture land fed, warmed, and clothed the flock, while mutual patience, affection, and courage made the old farm-house a very happy home.”  May this Thanksgiving be one where God reminds us again of his steadfast love.