Hide and Seek: Opening Up to God and Others

by Laura Ketchum

Day 1: Hiding Ourselves

When was the last time you hid a part of yourself?

Sometimes, the things we hide are innocuous. Think guilty pleasures, like an off-beat food, a “bad” TV show, or a campy music artist. At the end of the day, we know these things aren’t a big deal—and yet we’d really rather others not look down on us or make fun of us for liking these things.

Sometimes, the things we hide are a bigger deal. Things like past traumatic experiences, struggles with physical or mental illness, or recurring sin can weigh on us, but we often hesitate to tell others about these things, fearing we might drive them away in the process.

All of us hide things. We hide things from our friends and family members. Sometimes, we even try to hide things from God.

This tendency of ours goes way, way back, all the way to Adam and Eve. When they ate the fruit of the tree, God commanded them not to eat and encountered the feeling of shame for the first time; what was their first instinct? To hide from God.

When we choose to hide parts of ourselves from others, it can be easy to justify what we’re doing. We might tell ourselves that it’s really not a big deal, that we don’t need someone else’s help, or that we don’t want to burden someone else with our struggles.

But hiding takes a toll after a while. By its very nature, hiding parts of ourselves creates separation between us and other people. Hiding one thing makes it easier to hide more things—and the more we hide, the larger that rift grows. We can hide so much of ourselves that we end up alone, having isolated ourselves from some of the most important relationships in our lives.

But we don’t have to live this way. Over the next two days, we’ll take a look at the God who’s searching for us and who desires to know all of us, and how we can take the step of letting ourselves be known inside and out. Until then, consider this reflection and prayer.

Take a moment to watch this video, Hide and Seek:

Reflection: When was the last time you hid a part of yourself? What parts of yourself do you most consistently hide from other people—and God? What thoughts or feelings keep you from sharing more of yourself with others?

Prayer: Father, sometimes I hide parts of myself. Would You help me better understand why I’m keeping these parts of myself hidden? And would You give me the courage to share more of myself with You and others? In Jesus’ name, amen.