It’s Time to Come Out of Hiding with God

“O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand! I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence!

If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me. I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night— but even in darkness, I cannot hide from you. To you, the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you.” (Psalm 139:1-12, NLT)
 

Let’s just take a moment and let that all sink in.

We cannot hide from God whatsoever. To some people, this is a beautiful thing, and to others, it’s a scary thing. To me and where I am in my walk now, it's so beautiful, but I understand from my own past experience why others would find it scary.

God sees everything you do and everything you're going through before you even encounter it. He is at your right hand not to condemn you, but to guide you. When we aren’t doing the right things, we tend to view Him like a father who is going to be ashamed of us. As a society, we have developed such a skewed view of the type of father God is to us. The loving counselor that God is is such a vast concept because His love is a love that is so beyond our human understanding.

One thing to take in from the verse is that you are never forgotten by God, you are never lost or underappreciated, so why do we do those exact things to him?

In these verses, David is talking about how the Lord is always with him because he is omnipresent. In David’s day, no one knew how that could be possible. Generations later, we learn that it’s because of the Holy Spirit, who still operates today. The key to having David’s heart is letting ourselves fall in love with God’s spirit. I would say that as a society, we have built up walls and hidden away our hearts so the idea of officially letting God in is scary. But pushing out God means we let hopelessness and confusion in, the same emotions that our broken world thrives on.

What I am getting at is that we tend to give ourselves a lot more credit than we deserve. I do it all the time. We have internal conversations with ourselves, contemplating whether or not to read or go to church, and in turn, we convince ourselves that we’re doing good enough. “I am a good person. I love God, and He loves me. It’s ok if I don’t pursue him today.”

Trust me, I am guilty of this more than I’d like to admit. But when we do this, we fool ourselves because we are neglecting the fact that we need to be filled up by God. Otherwise, we are running on empty. What we have with God is a relationship, one that needs to be nurtured and maintained just like any other; except our relationship with Him is the most important connection we have.

If you find yourself in a dry spot, I am challenging you to find the time to pray today.  Pray that you would thirst for his presence in a whole new way. Then, open up your Bible. Read some psalms or proverbs and let God speak to you. Ask your friends to keep you accountable in your walk with God. The ultimate thing you need to do is truly listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit and take his direction. God has made an investment in you because he believes in you and he wants you. Be encouraged by that, not fearful of it.

You are not held to an impossible, unattainable standard. You are loved immeasurably by the Lord and you have an opportunity to live and prosper in the love for the rest of your days. The first step to that awesome blessing is giving Him all those things we desperately feel the need to hide away. We can’t keep those things from Him anyway; He already knows. But like I said, this is a relationship. It means so much more to Him when we stop being stingy with our emotions and become open to being in a vulnerable, honest place with the Creator of our hearts.

At the end of Psalm 139, David shares with us his outcry prayer that some of us might just need to pray as well. He says, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.” (Psalm 139: 23-24, NLT)

That is a prayer that we should be praying every day. That’s a prayer that we should live our lives by. If you’re reading this and seeing yourself in any of my words, or if you find yourself running on your desires and not God’s promises, I encourage you to submit to Jesus. Ask him to search your anxious heart, to know your every thought. Don’t live in fear of your sin and your feelings, let God show you the power of the road marked with everlasting life.

Dear God,
There are no words I could use that would do your love and mercy formejustice. You are the light of my life and the hope for all my days, but I keep losing sight of you. I have this habit of taking my eyes off of you and focusing on my own desires. I need your guidance and your wisdom. Lead me closer to your heart and pry out each anxiety from my soul. Cleanse me in your peace and show me the power you have over my demons. Motivate me to love you more through giving you my time and my habits. Show me how I can express my love for you more. There’s no mountain or valley that is out of reach for you. How blessed am I that the Maker of the universe lays his footsteps over mine, walking in the deepest depths of my heart and loving me still, more than I can comprehend. Lord, you are so great. Help me to love you more, every day and for all my life. In Jesus name, I pray, Amen.