In his book, It was on Fire When I Lay Down on It, Robert Fulghum describes an alternative to the child’s game of hide and seek. The game is typically played by selecting one person to be IT and everyone else runs and hides. IT must find the hiders.
I believe this is the way we perceive our relationship with God. All of us are running and hiding in the busyness of our lives, believing God is IT searching high and low to tag us and beat us back to home base.
In Fulghum’s alternative, IT is chosen, everyone closes their eyes then he runs and hides. In this version everyone is a seeker except IT. A seeker searches for IT and joins him in the hiding place while the other seekers continue the search. As more seekers become hiders it is difficult to maintain the quiet as pokes and jabs create giggles and whispers. The game goes on until all the seekers have located IT and they are all in the hiding place together. Can you imagine the commotion as all the seekers become hiders crammed into a tiny space?
I like Fulghum’s new version of hide and seek. It’s more akin to my search for God. I thought God was hiding. When in fact, God was in plain sight, only I didn’t know He was “IT.” I was searching for the wrong IT. God wasn’t seeking to coerce me into finding Him, He allowed me to operate without limits seeking to fill my emptiness as I searched for answers. Neither did He make bad things happen to me to get my attention, although occasional glimpses of His mercy guarded me from danger. Occasionally, I saw Him and thought, “Well, that can’t be IT.”
The real problem for us is God is in plain sight. We just don’t realize He is “IT.” We try to make everything else IT – careers, relationships, financial goals, automobiles, houses, etc. The list goes on and on of the potential ITs in our lives. Once we realize He is “IT” our lives come into focus. We join Him while others continue to pursue the ITs in their lives.
As other seekers join us the fun begins. With God at the center we grow together in intimate community. We begin to experience joy, laughter and support.
God isn’t hiding. Seek your “IT” at Recovery Church in the wide open space of His care.
Life is to hard to do alone. Let’s do it together!
Pastor Dan