Dr. Rick Mandl - September 14, 2020
Playing Hide And Seek With God
Devotional Manuscript: Playing Hide And Seek With God
By Dr. Rick Mandl, Monday, September 14, 2020
Hey church family. Ever wonder why we sometimes try and hide from God? Maybe it’s in the genes. You’ve heard the expression, “Like father, like son.” You can read in Genesis chapter 3 about how our father Adam and his wife Eve, committed the first sin, back in the garden. And do you know the next thing they did? They hid.
Hiding from God is not the smartest thing you can think of. Have you ever played Hide and Seek with a two-year-old? You close your eyes and count to ten, turn around and you can see his feet sticking out from under the blanket. Or if you’re like my grandson, when you’re trying to hide, you just close your eyes. Because you figure that if you can’t see me, that means I can’t see you. It’s like that when we try to hide from God. We think we’re being so clever, but God just sees right through us. We know that we are forgiven. So why do we try to hide from God?
There are so many reasons: We hide because we’re ashamed; We hide because of our pride; We hide because we want to pretend that we are better than we are; We hide because we doubt God’s love; We hide because we want to punish ourselves; We hide because we have not yet forgiven ourselves. We worry that there is a limit to his forgiveness... And that this time his love might have run out.
In Matthew 18, (NIV) Peter asks Jesus, Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times." If we humans — frail, limited, and full of envy — are expected to forgive 77 times, how much more limitless is God’s forgiveness for us?
Psalm 103:11-12 (NIV) says, "For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us." Shame is one of Satan’s greatest tools. He lies to us and says, “Look at your life, you’re a mess. God could never use you.
One of my favorite verses is 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!" This verse and others tell me that I have a complete new identity now that I am in Christ: In God’s eyes, I am pure, holy, honorable — utterly forgiven and loved. God already sees me, right now, the way I will be in eternity — perfectly delivered from all sin, fully in God’s image. The next time you’re tempted to play hide and seek with God, ask him to remind you of who you are in his sight.
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