When God Plays Hide & Seek

to seem hopeless.
ii. The reason is simply because “He is not there”!
a. My God is a God of invitations; He’s not a God that runs away and leaves me falling behind because I can’t keep up!
C. “…and backward, but I cannot perceive Him.”
1. You’ll never find Him going in this direction.
a. To the Jew, this meant facing the West, as “forward” always signified toward the Eastern sky.
b. You can look for Him in the sunrise as well as in the sunset, but He’s still playing “Hide & Seek”.
D. “On the left hand, where He doth work…”
1. Job looks again in a direction where He has known God to “work” in the past.
a. How many times have I returned to the place, whether a physical location, or someplace in my spirit, where I knew that God had visited me in the past…only to discover that He’s not there.
2. “…but I cannot behold Him.”
E. “He hideth himself on the right hand…”
1. The “right hand” was considered the South;
a. This was a region that, in Job’s time, was vastly unknown and unexplored.
b. It contained the Arabian deserts, and beyond that, the uncharted seas of which the Hebrews had only heard.
i. Job looked even in the direction of places he had never before explored.
ii. He tried things he’d never tried.
iii. He’s desperate in his search for God.
2. “…that I cannot see him.”
a. And still, after all this seeking, God remains hidden in this spiritual “Hide & Seek”.
IV. Conclusion
A. “But he knoweth the way that I take…”
1. Herein lies the secret to God’s game of “Hide & Seek”, my friend.
a. It’s not always about me finding Him.
i. I understand that scripture tells us that we’ll find Him when we seek Him with all our heart.
ii. I understand the scriptures tell us to pursue after Him.
iii. I realize the scripture tells us “Blessed are they that do hunger and thirst…for they shall be filled.”
iv. But it’s not always about me finding Him.
b. Sometimes, it’s about me realizing that, even though I’ve done everything in my power to find Him, all to no avail…
2. He knows where I am.
a. The secret, my friend, is that five-letter word that we discussed so recently: TRUST.
V. Close
A. When God plays “Hide & Seek”, it can be so frustrating.
1. I’ve seen children get frustrated, angry, even cry because their playmates were too well-hidden.
2. I’ve experienced the frustration of searching for something that I was almost certain should be in a particular place.
3. And more importantly, I’ve known the desperation of seeking a God who had hidden Himself from me so well that I could not find Him.
B. It is in these times, and in these moments, that I have to take comfort in the fact that:
1. God is not hiding because He’s angry with me.
2. He is not hiding because He’s ashamed of me.
3. He understands that I am desperate in my attempt to find Him.
4. And He knows exactly where I am at.
C. Allow me to use a personal illustration in closing:
1. I recently told a minister friend that I knew God would answer me because, I said, “I’m seeking His face.”
a. You see, I may not have the answer right now, and right now it may seem hopeless and helpless, and I may not be sure which way to turn.
2. But He knows exactly where I’m at…and when the time is right, and I have proved my trust in Him,
a. I will see His Face.
b. I will behold His Glory.
c. I will stand in His Presence and feel His anointing.
D. And when it comes to my