Hide in the Light

My brothers and I liked to play hide and seek when we were children. There was something exciting about running around trying to find that perfect hiding place, often in a dark corner behind a curtain or sofa, under a bed or in a closet, believing that the darkness would hide me from the eyes seeking to find me. As I hid in my secret place, there were conflicting emotions going on: excitement about the possibility of being discovered or found and at the same time fear of the same.

When the person doing the searching was having trouble finding me, there was a sense of victory that I really did find the perfect hiding place and I would be the winner. It was then followed by the fear of never being found and then forgotten about when the person got tired of looking! As the fear of never being found got bigger, I would make a small noise to catch the attention of the person seeking. Then suddenly I would feel relief, as I heard the footsteps coming closer … another small noise … even closer … then a giggle and at last I was found!

Many of us carry this same principle into adulthood. We have secrets and wounds in our life that we are trying to keep ‘hidden’, whether from others or even from ourselves. They are secrets which prevent us from fully living life. When we give our lives over to Jesus, we rejoice at being ‘found’, but there may still be parts of our life we feel ashamed about, parts we keep ‘hidden’, with the same conflicting emotions we had as a child playing hide and seek.

There is a longing to be found, but we are terribly afraid at the same time. The dark is familiar and feels safe, and we are under the illusion that we are neatly hidden. But there is one who can see us, Jesus. He is inviting us to come into the light. His light chases away the darkness.

It sounds like an oxymoron to ‘hide in the light’, because the purpose of light is to expose that which is hidden in the dark. In total darkness you can’t even see your hand in front of your face. On the other side of the equation, when you are standing in the brightest of lights (think of a bright sunny day), it also impossible to see anything, because it is so blinding.

I clearly remember one incident of playing ‘hide and seek’ outdoors with my brothers and some cousins. We had all been found except for my brother and we all started to look for him, but we just couldn’t find him. Suddenly he popped up out of a flower bed that was filled with large white flowers. My brother had a head of blond hair and, as he crouched in that flower bed, the top of his head was visible. But we didn’t see it, because it blended in perfectly with the surrounding flowers! In essence, he was hiding in plain sight.

God is calling you to come out of the darkness and into His light. It can be a terrifying thing, but as you open your heart to Him, and you are honest with yourself, His light will come in and ‘find’ you, and the relief and joy will follow. To help build your faith before you take this courageous step, it is well worth it looking up the verses to speak of ‘light’ in the Bible. One of them says, ‘This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all’ (1 John 1:5).

Prayer: Dear Jesus, there are areas of my life that I have been keeping hidden and I don’t want to do that anymore. I am afraid, but I do invite You to come in and expose what is hidden, so I can be fully free. Help me to learn to hide in Your light. Thank You, Jesus. Amen.