Issue 1176 – Hiding – June 14, 2023
The squirrel chattered at and scolded me before deciding that discretion was the better part of valour and hiding. It turned its back, fanned out its tail to break the outline and sat perfectly still. I probably would never have seen the squirrel if I hadn’t watched the performance.
A little further down the path, a cat saw me coming and froze in the shadow. Its black colouring made it blend into the shadow, and I could have walked by it without ever seeing it.
A pair of Bohemian waxwings sat perfectly still by the pond in the branches of a dying evergreen. Their rust-coloured feathers were a near-perfect match for the foliage of the dying spruce. I knew to watch for them in the area; otherwise, they would have gone unnoticed.
People, too, are masters of camouflage. It is a different sort of protection designed to hide the real us.
Some people use abrasive and coarse personalities to hide soft hearts that don’t want to be hurt again. Others wear warm smiles, but you can’t trust them.
Some people pick a segment of the population and hide in it. Did you ever watch a group of junior high students show their individuality? The only thing individual about them is they dress differently than their parents. Often they dress and act virtually identically to all their “individualistic” peers.
We don our invisibility suits when we get on a bus or walk the city streets. We don’t speak and refuse to make eye contact with anyone else to remain anonymous.
We all try to hide some things from others or even from ourselves. Yet, no matter how hard we try, there is one who knows the truth.
O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
You discern my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.
Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,” even the
darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you. Psalm 139:1-12
It’s time to take off the camouflage and get right with Him. He already knows even our deepest, darkest secrets, even the ones we try to hide from ourselves. He already knows and sees everything. He always has. We don’t fool Him.
Until next time, may He give us the courage to be honest about ourselves, transparent about our joys and struggles, and reveal the beautiful person God is making us into.
Be Blessed
Hallelu Yah / Praise God
Kevin
Gleanings From The Word
Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life.
Soli Deo Gloria (For the glory of God alone)
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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is from the English Standard Version (ESV).
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