Hide, Seek and Find

UV 1265/10,000 Hide, Seek and Find

Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour.

Isaiah 45 v 15


In the beginning when the first man and woman sinned, they hid themselves from God. They hid themselves out of shame, fear and guilt. Thereafter came the turn of God to hide Himself from mankind. Adam and Eve had broken faith with God even when they could perceive Him with their senses. They could hear His movements and His words. They could not see Him as no man other than Jesus has seen God. God hid the secret of eternal life from man. But since there is a crying need in the human heart to know the Creator, mankind in different geographies and times and nations have sought God in different ways and therefore, we have many religions- the efforts of man to find and reach God. But God revealed Himself, His thoughts and His ways from time to time through some men and women who were godly and through some prophets who walked close with Him. He knows that unless He reveal Himself no man can find Him. The fullest and complete revelation of God came through the birth, life, acts, teachings, death, resurrection and ministry of Jesus.


God is not flamboyant. He is discreet and humble. Even Jesus presented a de-glamourised image of God. Scripture says that “there was no beauty in Him that anyone should desire Him.” The silence of God should not be assumed to be evidence of His non-existence, ignorance or indifference. He has set signs and symbols in nature of His glory. He has made it evident and explicit in scripture. He now waits in the wings of history to see which man or woman wholeheartedly seeks Him out. From His perspective, seeking is believing. He promises that whoever seeks Him with all their heart will surely find Him. Adam and Eve broke faith by disbelieving in His words. Now He wishes to see which offspring of Adam and Eve believes His Word( Jesus) and His words and seeks to restore themselves to a loving and trusting personal relationship with Him. He does not believe or revel in sacrifice or ritual or religion for He knows these are poor and ineffective substitutes for a personal relationship with Him.



Once we find God in the person of Christ, He never hides Himself again from us. He is always present with us and in us in the person of the Holy Spirit. We can hide ourselves in Him from the world and its pressures and temptations. He will wipe our tears and heal our fears. Where formerly we had to hide some parts of our lives from our own selves and from others, we can now have full closure as well as disclosure. From time to time, when we are distressed we can hide ourselves in the bosom of the good Shepherd and Saviour of Israel. He is not the Saviour only of Israel but it means that He is Saviour who is born in Israel or in the lineage of Jacob and David. We get grafted by faith into the citizenship of the Kingdom of God on earth as in heaven. We can hide ourselves in the Rock of ages to derive strength. We can find the hidden truths about God and the hidden keys and treasures in the promises of God contained in scripture. God will hide us from dangers and threats under His mighty wings even as a hen hides its chicken under its meek wings from the predator’s claws. Every day we should make it a discipline and habit to spend time hiding in the presence of God, seeking and finding His direction, His comfort, strength, guidance and wisdom.

Prateep V Philip