Hide & Seek

It's a game you'll never win if you're hiding from God. Guaranteed! I just praise Him for that wonderful and comforting Truth today!!

"Where can I go from Your Spirit?

Or where can I flee from Your presence?"

--Psalm 139:7

Psalm 139 is really too long to paste in the middle of a post here, but if you're not intimately aware of the context of the verse above, I encourage you to spend some time reading that chapter today...especially if you've ever found yourself playing hide and seek with the Lord.

We had our membership interview with several of the elders at CBC this morning. It turned out to be not nearly as pleasant as I'd hoped! God kept tugging at my heart and causing words to flow from my mouth that I, personally, could have done without sharing. At the same time, it was incredibly freeing to officially take off my "good little Christian" hat and just be real. It was less than comfortable, and I'm sure those dear men all feel like Steve got the raw end of the deal by marrying this outrageous sinner...and they may be quite right. Despite my honesty, they are welcoming us back into the local Body of Christ at CBC, and I am thankful beyond words to be there.

In case you haven't noticed lately, He is calling me to a life of transparency that is often painful and sometimes downright embarrassing. To be perfectly honest with you, I'm not sure I like the call. BUT, I am so incredibly overwhelmed by His grace at this moment in my life, that I cannot help but share with you that He is One who calls me from darkness into light. If all I ever write to you is light, if all I shared with the elders was His light in my life, I would be withholding the glory due His name! I am a fallen human being, and it is only by His grace that I can display any amount of light or joy or goodness.

Light is so much brighter when contrasted with darkness! And, friends, He has allowed me to walk in darkness in lots of way. You know what though? I couldn't hide there! I am His! Once His, always, always His. He let me walk so far, and then He called my name. I believe we can see that on a smaller, day to day, scale as well. As we are tempted, as we stick out our big toe and test the waters of sin, our gracious and loving Father calls to us. He wipes our dirty toe clean and helps us to shine for Him again.

I praise Him today because I cannot hide from His presence. There is no darkness that I can fall into that can permanently keep me from His loving arms. I am thankful for a church body that believes in the power of His grace enough to let me be ugly and real and still open their heart of fellowship to me.