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Can I Hide From God?
Tuesday, March 29, 2022 by Sarah Schwerin

I perused the refrigerator shelves, studied the counter, and looked behind all the boxes in the pantry. There were no sweets in the house. Then, I remembered the Halloween candy. The kids ate a few pieces on the big day, but I had saved the rest in a gallon freezer bag. For safekeeping, I had stored it on top of the refrigerator where my young sons could not reach it.

Pondering which piece I would choose first, I opened the refrigerator door, stood on the bottom ledge, stretched to my full five feet and five inches, and felt around the top. Only dust. Strange. I shut the door and got a spatula. Using the kitchen utensil, I felt around the top of the fridge. A toy fell to the floor. Convinced that the candy had to be somewhere, I drug a kitchen chair over, climbed on it, and looked at the top of the refrigerator. Nothing.

Puzzled, I sat in my favorite chair, the glider our parents bought us when my husband and I had our first child. As I rocked, I noticed that the chair’s side pockets bulged. What had I put in there? I reached into one pocket and pulled out a large wad of candy wrappers. The empty freezer bag was on the other side.

One of my sons had eaten all the Halloween candy and hidden the evidence.

God created a world where nothing was hidden, not even candy.

The light that He made first illuminated everything, the sky, the water, the plants, the animals, and finally the pinnacle of his creation, man and woman. He placed them in the garden of Eden and hid nothing from them.

When the serpent approached the woman, Eve, he pointed out the forbidden tree.

God had not hidden the tree from them, but He had warned them of the consequences of eating the fruit.

At the prompting of the enemy, Eve ate the fruit and then gave some to her husband, Adam. Ashamed of their actions, they sewed clothes to hide their nakedness. Then, when they heard God in the garden, they hid from Him.

Like the first humans, we have a tendency to hide our thoughts, feelings, and actions. What would others think if they knew I did this or struggled with that?

When my husband and I were first married, I thought I was hiding my depression from him, but I wasn’t. He saw I was struggling and God did, too. My husband encouraged me to go back to counseling, which I did. It was an important lesson to me that God sees me no matter where I am or what I am doing.

I learned, like Adam, Eve, and my son, that when we hide, God finds us. We can’t hide from Him.

God came to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. He loved them but laid out the consequences of their behavior. I did the same thing with my son.

God doesn’t want us to hide anything from Him. He wants to walk with us through our struggles and our greatest accomplishments. From our eating habits to our mental health, God cares about every aspect of our everyday lives.

“Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will hide me and the light becomes night around me,’ even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, the darkness is as light to you” (Psalms 139:7-12, NIV).

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Comments

Candyce Carden From At 4/7/2022 3:12:18 PM

Great connection and reminders here!

Reply by: Sarah Schwerin

Thanks for reading!

Annie Yorty From At 4/6/2022 4:27:38 PM

Funny how we think we can hide from the God of the universe. Even though I've tried to hide things, I'm so grateful He fully knows me.

Reply by: Sarah Schwerin

You are so right! Thanks for reading.

Katherine Pasour From At 4/6/2022 1:02:02 PM

I think the messages that are personal to us, teach us the greatest lessons. I learned the hard way, we can't hide from God. But what I gained is so much more--sfety, security, eternal life, and the recognition that I no longer feel the need to hide from Him. Psalm 139 is beautiful--thank you.