Hiding From God, Hidden In God
As children, playing Hide and Seek was a thrilling game—one of excitement, anticipation, and, ultimately, the joy of being found. My daughters loved playing with me, but they never wanted to stay hidden for long. If I pretended not to find them, they would eagerly pop out, exclaiming, “Here I am, Daddy!”
But sometimes, hiding stops being a game. I remember a heart-stopping moment in a department store when my wife and I realized our youngest daughter was missing. We searched frantically, calling her name until I finally heard a soft giggle. She had hidden inside a circular clothes rack, unaware of the fear she had caused. When I found her, I felt frustration but also relief—what had been lost was now found.
As my daughters grew, hiding became less about play and more about avoidance. When they disobeyed, they instinctively withdrew, not wanting to face the consequences. This pattern isn’t new—it dates back to the very first humans, as we see in Genesis 3.
Hiding From God
Adam and Eve lived in perfect connection with God until sin entered the world. When they disobeyed, their first instinct was to hide. God, sensing the distance, called out, “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:9). This wasn’t a question of location but one of connection. Their sin had driven a wedge between them and their Creator.
Like Adam and Eve, we continue the pattern of hiding from God today. We may not hide behind trees, but we find other ways to distance ourselves:
Hiding Behind Things – We immerse ourselves in wealth, status, or possessions, believing they will fulfill us. Like the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32), we may think we can find life apart from the Father, but we discover only that our pursuits are empty.
Hiding Behind People – We blame family, friends, or society for our actions, excusing our disobedience as a result of outside influence.
Hiding in Plain Sight – We wear different masks, professing faith while living contrary to it. Peter did this when he denied Jesus three times (Matthew 26:69-75). The older brother in the Prodigal Son parable stayed with the father, yet he remained disconnected, hiding behind self-righteousness.
Jesus confronted this type of hiding, telling the Pharisees, “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me” (Matthew 15:8). A transactional relationship with God—where we only seek Him for what He can give us—keeps us hiding. In contrast, a transformational relationship with God leads us to surrender, love, and real change.
The Consequence of Hiding
We hide because we fear consequences. If we can’t conceal our sin, we shift blame—just as Adam blamed Eve (and ultimately God), and Eve blamed the serpent (Genesis 3:12-13). But blaming doesn’t erase our guilt.
God sees everything. As Jeremiah 16:17 says, “For my eyes are on all their ways. They are not hidden from me, nor is their iniquity concealed from my eyes.” David echoes this in Psalm 139:7, asking, “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?” No matter how hard we try, we cannot hide from God. Instead, our sin hides God from us.
When we persist in sin, God often grants our desire for separation. In multiple instances, Scripture describes God “turning His back” on His people—not as an act of abandonment, but as a way to stir them to return to Him (Jeremiah 18:17; Acts 7:42). His turning is meant to lead to our re-turning.
Even in spiritual darkness, God has not left us. He allows moments of distance for several reasons:
To awaken our desire for Him: When we take God’s presence for granted, He may withhold it briefly to help us recognize its true value (Ephesians 1:18).
To humble us: Spiritual dryness reveals our dependence on God’s grace (2 Corinthians 12:9).
To remind us of our past without Him: Ephesians 2:12 calls us to remember our former separation so that we treasure our salvation.
Isaiah 42:16 reassures us: “I will turn the darkness before them into light… These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them.” Even when we feel distant, God is near.
Hidden In God
Eventually, we come to realize that hiding from God is exhausting. What we truly need is to be hidden in God. David describes this transformation in Psalm 32. At first, his sin made him feel physically and spiritually drained: “For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long” (Psalm 32:3).
But when he stopped hiding and confessed, he experienced God’s mercy: “You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance” (Psalm 32:7).
God doesn’t want us to hide from Him—He wants to be our hiding place. Instead of avoiding Him, He calls us to seek Him, promising, “I will be found by you” (Jeremiah 29:14).
Further, the Psalms repeatedly affirm the safety of being hidden in God:
“Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings” (Psalm 17:8).
“For He will hide me in His shelter in the day of trouble” (Psalm 27:5).
“In the cover of your presence, You hide them” (Psalm 31:20).
When we stop hiding from God and begin hiding in Him, we find shelter, protection, and restoration. Instead of fearing exposure, we embrace intimacy with our Creator.
Seeking, Not Hiding
The game of hide-and-seek changes when we stop hiding and start seeking. God has already called out to us; He is waiting for us to answer. When we step into the light of His presence, we discover that He is never far away.
If you’ve been hiding, it’s time to reveal yourself. God isn’t seeking you to punish you—He’s seeking you to love you. Let go of your hiding places, and step into the arms of the One who has been calling your name all along.
