Grace Notes // His Voice - Week 3
Written by Keli Miller
Hide and Seek
I can remember playing hide and seek as a child. I never wanted to be the seeker, that’s where all the work was. Hiding was way more fun. Usually what happens in a game of hide and seek is that you play a few rounds but sooner than later the seekers commitment to the game would fade, they’d get distracted and stop looking for their final person. I’ve been that seeker, who loses attention and motivation to search. I’ve also been the last person hiding who is stuck hiding for hours only to realize that my friends had stopped looking for me all together. It was crushing.
All throughout the Bible we see a similar pattern of hiding, seeking, and revealing. In Matthew 13, Jesus tells parables of people seeking for treasure and finding it. He says, “He who has ears let him hear”. He who is listening, let him hear. On Sunday, we looked at Luke 10 where Jesus says, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.” In this verse we see God hiding revelation from the “wise and learned” and choosing to reveal his revelation to those who are childlike. God wants his words to fall on hearts that know their need and have space to receive. God seems less concerned with ease and clarity and more concerned with the heart posture of those listening.
There is so much to learn from children on how to receive from God. A healthy child shows us how to have both confidence and humility in our need. They demonstrate confidence that their needs will be provided for and they have the humility to ask for and express their needs without feeling shame. I think this is why God chooses to reveal his things to the children and asks us to have a child-like faith. His wisdom, his voice, is hidden in this posture.
I want to seek God’s word and voice. I want his revelation and I want to know my need. So often though, just like in hide and seek, I am prone to stop seeking. To settle for easier quick band-aid solutions rather than sit in discomfort. If I fill my life with these band-aid quick fixes I don’t leave room for God’s intervention. This week, my challenge to you (and myself) is to become child-like and bring my needs to the father and seek his voice in all of it.
In the Word
Matthew 7: 7-14
Matthew 13: 10-17
Matthew 18:2-4
Processing QUESTIONS
Where are you creating space for God to intervene?
What does seeking God’s word look like in this season for you?
Are there areas in your life where you have become tired of seeking God’s revelation and settled for human revelation?