“A thousand and nine, a thousand and eight, a thousand and seven, a thousand and six, five, four, three, two, one… Ready or not, here I come!” It is the children’s game probably played by every child in the world. I don’t know of a child who has not loved to play Hide and Seek. Some were very good at hiding and others not so good. Some were good at finding others, while others couldn’t find a fish in the ocean. They tried but seemed to always look in the wrong places or just didn’t care.

 

Unfortunately, the game of Hide and Seek carries over into our adulthood but it’s played in a completely different way.

 

We all have things that we don’t want the world to know about. Secrets that we’re embarrassed by. Acts that we’ve committed that we know would make others change their opinion about us if they knew. So, what do we do? We hide. We hide our secrets, so well that nobody has a clue of our sins, shortcomings, problems, or issues. But…

 

God knows.

 

Not in an “I know your secrets and I’m going to tell the world” kind of way. But in an “I know everything about you—your secrets, your dreams, your issues, your pains, your joys—and I’m okay with you just the way you are” kind of way.

 

But we are so afraid that people won’t love us or accept us if they knew. Or that God Himself would reject us if He knew. Here’s the irony of it all, because He already knows. Honestly, He knew what you were going to do before you knew what you were going to do, and He still loves you. I’m not saying He’s okay with it; I’m saying He loves you despite your secrets, hurts, pains, and issues. But we try and hide ourselves from the One who made us and knows every cell in our body, all 30-36 trillion of them.

 

The things that we have done and have tried to hide are not good. They’ve hurt many others. They might even be sin. But God’s love for us is so overwhelming that we cannot mentally fathom it.

 

Why would somebody like God love somebody like me?

 

“I know me, and I don’t love me,” you might say. However, God knows you better than you know you, and He loves you just the same.

 

I wrote a song a couple of years ago while on a vacation. I was sitting on the front porch of an old farmer’s house (AirBnB) watching the sunset and contemplating the love of God for me and for others. This is the chorus of that song:

 

“He loves you more than you love you. So, give it up. Lay it down. It’s no use to keep running from the only one who loves you like you’re the only one in the world.”

 

I think that pretty much sums up God’s passionate love for you and me. Why would we hide our face from a God like that? Shame. Why are we ashamed? As I explained earlier, God knew you were going to do what you did before you did. And, not only that, but He already paid the price of your shame, too. He took your shame on His body and His soul so that you wouldn’t have to; and because He did, we can stand before Him completely emotionally and spiritually naked and unashamed. Not fearing rejection. Not fearing wrath or punishment of sin.

 

Yes, there are consequences to our sin. If you jump out of an airplane at 20,000 feet without a parachute, you will suffer the consequences of your decision. That’s not what I’m talking about.

 

Living under the tree of knowledge of good and evil will always make you run and hide, never being honest with yourself or others. Thus, our hiding. We’ve hidden so well that we have forgotten who we are. We have become a product of the identity we created in our minds instead of the person God has called us to be. The enemy is perfectly fine for us to stay hidden. Why? Things that are hidden are never revealed and don’t get addressed and healed, fixed, or made whole. The enemy wants us splintered, fractured, and broken. People that are broken tend to break others. Hurting people hurt people. However, healed people heal people. Loved people love people. We don’t have to run and hide anymore. We are free to be the person God has called us to be.

 

We have all worn masks to hide ourselves from the world around us, but we don’t have to. Honest and vulnerable are the two things we must be and live if we are ever going to come out of hiding. We need to be honest with ourselves and vulnerable to the Holy Spirit. We are all like an onion with layer after layer of hurt, pain, and sorrow. But we also have layers of joy, love, accomplishments, and more. When we are honest and vulnerable, the Holy Spirit has the freedom to do His work in us, making us more like Jesus—to love like Jesus, to talk like Jesus, to walk like Jesus, to be like Jesus.

 

Do you want to love your spouse like Jesus does, regardless of their shortcoming and mistakes? Do you want to make a difference in the world, a difference that will outlive you and your accomplishments? If so, then we must be honest and vulnerable and take off the mask.

 

I cannot imagine following Jesus without speaking with Him daily and listening for His guidance and instruction. Most of my life has been dotted with signposts of when God would speak to me and either give me direction, instruction, or revelation. These moments were revealing and raw. Revealing in the sense that He would show me something about my life that I had no clue about. Raw in the fact that the revelations were a punch to my gut and a straight blow to my heart. Even though those moments were tough and rough, I knew then and afterwards that it was what I needed. I longed for my Father’s guidance and instruction. The more moments I had like that with Him, the more the mask of my pride, self-sufficiency, arrogance, and more began to peel off. The it peeled away, the more my insecurities, hurts, and pains were revealed, which led to my healing and the building of my character both emotionally and spiritually.

 

To illustrate my point: I was in my little blue 1985 Ford Ranger, driving down the road so happy that I was married, had a little baby girl, was working two jobs, and was ministering the life of God to young people as a youth pastor. I topped a hill and the most gorgeous sunset stretched out before me with the most beautiful shades of orange and yellow that my eyes had ever seen. I was so stricken with the beauty of the sunset that I began to praise God and thank Him for such a stunning sight. I then glanced in my rearview mirror to see a black and grey sky full of rain clouds longing to let loose the water contained within them. The wind was blowing hard as I watched the trees bend back and forth almost to the breaking point. I was struck with a fear of the storm overtaking me and my little truck. And, in an instant, the Lord spoke to me about trust. Would I trust Him when the skies are blue and when they are grey? That moment changed my life and how I trust God. I could not answer the Lord with a resounding YES because I knew I was frightful of the storm and feared for my life. But, from that day forward, I’ve learned to trust Him whether the skies are blue or whether they are grey. The mask of fear was peeled back to reveal my insecurities and trust issues. Did I like the revelation? No! But am I glad for it. Yes, yes, and yes!!!

 

The revelations that God speaks to us are not always easy, but like the air we breathe they are vital and necessary. So, don’t be afraid of the times of unmasking in our life. It’s always for our benefit. A rubber band is not any good unless it’s being stretched. It was designed to be stretched to do what it was created to do. God created us for a specific destiny and part of the process of fulfilling that destiny is the Holy Spirit working in us to produce the Life of God through us to bring that Life to others. Sometimes we must be stretched or the masks that we wear peeled back so that we can become the Sons and Daughters of God that He has destined us to be, changing the world in the process.

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by Todd Goodwin