DAILY DEVOTIONAL – January 27, 2021
“Peek-A-Boo!”
Prayer: God and Father, we know that You know all things and see all things. Even so, You have not only pursued us with Your great love, but You call to us even today to repent and take refuge in the sure salvation found only in the blood of Your Son, Jesus Christ. We thank You that You have not left us to ourselves. Bless our time of devotion in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Scripture: Luke 15:3-7
3 Jesus told this parable: 4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
Devotional – “Peek-a-Boo!”
Have you ever noticed that out of all the things you have to teach a child, how to play “Hide and Go Seek” isn’t one of them? Who didn’t play hide and go seek growing up? Throughout my childhood years, the game of hide and seek got more sophisticated. As the physical abilities of my friends and I increased, they enabled us to hide in a larger playing field, and our increasing cleverness helped us hide in more tricky spots. Eventually, even as late as my junior year in high school, these games of hide and seek turned into seek and destroy laser tag games involving 10-12 friends and blocks worth of real estate.
According to Shirah Vollmer, clinical child psychiatrist at UCLA, “Children hide because they want to know that they can go out and explore. They want to know that they can be fine on their own. They want a sense of autonomy. However, soon after the child feels the joys of exploring, he or she wants to be reassured that his friend or his parents want to find them.”
Vollmer says this is the same reason little children, infants, want and like to play an even more simplified version of the game called “Peek-a-boo”. Vollmer says, “the infant’s brain processes information such that out of sight means out of mind. When the older player covers his face, then the baby believes the player has gone away. The joy in seeing the face return comes from the relief that the separation has ended.”
Perhaps most profound of what Vollmer said is that, “hide and seek reassures children that the relationships in their life can separate and they can come back together. This dance between separation and reunification is endlessly reassuring because it reminds the child that separations can be temporary and therefore sustainable. Further, it reinforces the tremendous joy in the reunion since there is always fear that coming together will not happen.”
Given what Dr. Vollmer said, I’m not sure why hide and seek is seen only as a children’s game, but it shouldn’t be. We adults play it all the time as children of God. Despite knowing that God sees all things, we have a tendency to think if we don’t acknowledge it or really deal with it in our head and heart, we are hiding it from God. Just as children like hide and seek to be assured they can be okay on their own and be autonomous, we adults often seek to be on our own. We don’t want to be beholden to anyone’s rules or anyone else’s expectations. We pride ourselves on being self sufficient and being perfectly capable of being a blessing on our own life.
Autonomy was at the heart of the devil’s temptation of Adam and Eve, and like Adam and Eve did after they realized their sin had been exposed, we hide from God because of our sin and shame. Yet, God is so merciful and loving to us that just as He did with Adam and Eve, He comes to us and seeks us out even when we are hiding in our sin. He comes to us in His Word, in His Law that reveals our failures, calling us to repentance and to come out of hiding.
He relentlessly and yet tenderly and lovingly pursues us with His mercy. And thank God, because without His gracious pursuit of us, we would be lost forever. As Jesus said in John 6:44, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.”
Jesus said, “there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.”
God has pursued us by coming here Himself in the flesh, not only to find us but to pay the penalty for our pride and many sins with His own blood. The glory and light of Christ’s empty tomb cries out in the darkness saying, “I see you! Be not afraid. I have paid for your sins. I forgive you. Sin no more.” We have no need to hide anymore. We can come out of the shadows and into His forgiving Light, and we do that by answering Jesus’ call to confess our sin.
Trying to hide from God is futile. He sees everything. We should never hide from God, but we should always hide in God. His name, His presence, His shadow, and His word are all places of refuge for the child of God. Psalm 32:7 says,
“You are my hiding place;
You preserve me from trouble;
You surround me with songs of deliverance.”
Thanks for joining me for another daily devotional, and remember, that God has forgiven yesterday, is with you today, and has already taken care of tomorrow. Amen.
