Daniel loves to play hide and seek.
When it is his turn to hide, I know my role. I check all the wrong places first, ignoring the feet sticking out from the blanket or the thumps and giggles behind the door.
The other day we were playing and it was my turn to hide from him. I stepped into the bathtub and pulled the shower curtain across. He called to me and I called back, but it took him a while to find me. When he did, he laughed and laughed. When I stepped out of the bathtub, he jumped into my arms for a hug.
Then he became stern.
“Mama, I show you where to hide,” he said. He took my hand and led me to a closet. “In there.”
Then he disappeared to count down and yell, “Ready or not, here I come!”
I heard his feet pounding the floor as he ran straight to the closet, the one he had picked for me. Flashlight in hand, he threw the door open and shrieked in delight. He knew where I was hiding. There was no surprise. But that only added to his joy of discovering me.
No wonder God tells us we need to become like little children in our faith.
We know what we need to do to find God. We know where He is and what He’s asking of us. He’s hiding in plain sight, everywhere we go. He loves us completely, and waits to rejoice and celebrate the moments when we discover Him.
He knows us already, better than we know ourselves. And He is calling to us, nudging us, whispering to us, sometimes even shouting for us. Yet even when we discover Him, how often do we show that joy in the moment we encounter Him?
How fortunate we are to find God in a thousand different places and people and moments all the time. Yet how often do we squeal in delight and leap into His arms?
Today I am going to try to be more like our 4-year-old son and rejoice in discovering God wherever I can find him.
Today I will be a seeker, looking for God in every experience–and rejoicing when I find Him.
And I’ll be listening for God’s voice saying, “Ready or not, here I am!”
How are you encountering God today?
Linking up on Dec. 31, 2014, with Theology Is a Verb and Reconciled to You for Worth Revisit Wednesday.