Just the other day...I was sharing in the joy of praying with my three girls before bedtime. My baby girl, who is not really a baby anymore, but every bit of 3 years old, said she would lead us in the prayer (gotta love that!). So she started, "God, thank you for Mommy, and thank you for Daddy, and..." (her thank you's went on for a while). At the end of her prayer, she finished with this, "God, will you please come out?"
I quickly glanced over to my older girls who were grinning from ear to ear. All of us thought it was the cutest thing!! It was as if my 3 year old thought God was somewhere playing hide-and-seek and well, she was just ready for Him to come out and finally show Himself!
As I thought about it later on that night, I was moved by the very simple and yet profound faith of my sweet girl. Truly, the very essence of childlike faith. She has heard about the Lord, literally, since she was in the womb. I remember playing Kari Jobe songs through headphones placed on each side of my bulging belly and having her jump around to the music! She has been in church services listening to her daddy preach week after week, and in class after class telling her about the Lord. She hears about God from our whole family, all the time. If there's one thing she is sure of in her young life, it is that God exists, so naturally, she is just longing for the day when He will show Himself.
So am I!
The love of my life, the One who captured my heart at the tender age of eight, He is the One I long to see...the One I long to meet with face-to-face. So many times in my life, I have felt the same way, thinking, "Oh, my sweet, sweet Jesus...won't you just come so I can finally SEE you?"
I am as sure as my baby girl that my Lord does, indeed, exist. It is as if He is just beyond the curtain, waiting for that appointed time when He can step out, revealing Himself to us all.
Can't you see Him, hiding like any dad playing hide-and-seek...just out of sight, but waiting with anticipation for the big reveal? Oh, you know He is!! He longs to be found just as much as we long to find Him! In fact, He says it:
"You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart."
Jer 29:13
That's a promise from our not-yet-revealed Father. I know we all long to see Him face-to-face, yes, but the great thing is that if we're seeking Him, we are guaranteed to find Him even now! Will we find Him physically? Not yet...but He reveals Himself in so many other ways!
He's found in the kind words of a stranger when you are feeling down, in the sudden answer to a prayer only He knows about, in the Bible verse that you needed so desperately, in the friend who says just the right thing, through the sermon that feels like it's spoken directly to you, in the beauty of the world around you, and in the unexplained peace you find in the middle of a raging storm. In kindness after undeserved kindness He reveals Himself to us, even now...even while we wait with great anticipation for His glorious appearing!
Like my daughter, I'm going to keep praying, "God, will you please come out?" (Oh, I want to see Him!) I'm going to keep seeking, you can be sure of that! And while I'm seeking, I'll also keep my eyes wide open...choosing to be amazed at the multitude of ways He reveals Himself to me each day.
Won't you choose to keep your eyes wide open, too?
Seek Him and you'll find Him!!!
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For His glory,
