Hiding in Plain Sight

There he was, barely identifiable! I had heard a little splash, but it took a couple of minutes to spot his tiny face and bulging eyes in the murky, algae infested waters. He was hiding in plain sight.

We are pretty adept at that too. We always have been. “Covering up” is an ingrained human behavior. In our Eden beginnings, we attempted to hide our willful hearts behind fig leaves, bushes, denials, blame shifting, and self justification. Smiles, bravado, and false facades obscure our insecurities and camouflage our chaotic minds. Even when our souls are hurting, our anxiety, desperation, doubt, guilt and shame are often invisible to those that love us. We hide or deny our vulnerabilities and inabilities and disguise our moral weaknesses. Withdrawing into the shadows of self doubt and failed self expectations, we are afraid to express what we actually think or to speak the truth in love. We are people pleasers, are easily intimidated, cave to peer pressure, compromise our values, and deceive others in order to protect an image.

However, our hearts are totally exposed to God. We can’t hide from the fact that we have fallen short of the glory God has intended for us. Nothing dims our culpability- except His unwavering love for errant humanity. As with Adam and Eve, we are condemned to death because “the wages of sin is death.” But thankfully, God intervened for Adam and Eve. He didn’t condone their rebelliousness but allowed them to understand their sin and experience its terrible consequences. Rather than forsaking them and condemning them to total destruction, He provided a covering for their shame and gave them a future. His love was instructive and just. Our experiences with God mirror Adam’s and Eve’s.

We too give into temptations, are selfish, have lousy attitudes, and give little consideration to God. We constantly wrestle with unholiness despite good, kind and generous lives. Self protective manuevers won’t help us out of this mess where greed, jealousy, envy, pride, entitled attitudes, and judgmental thoughts and behaviors flourish. Camouflaging beneath good intentions and compassionate works cannot cover up our need for redemption. The Psalmist realized that when he asked, “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?” (Psalm 139)

The good news is that God has never forgotten His good, creative and redemptive purposes for broken humanity. Regardless of our flaws, we need not fear condemnation because God’s “Perfect love casts out fear” (1John 4:18). That “perfect love” is found in Christ’s perfection and once for all” sacrifice which deflects God’s wrath, removes the death penalty for our sins, and protects us under Christ’s righteousness. This is “the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith” (Philippians 2:9). God looks upon believers through the lens of grace and mercy and forgives, redeems, corrects, and restores them with a wonderful hope for the future because of Christ’s cross work on humanity’s behalf.

When we find ourselves fearful, hiding, and stuck in self-righteousness or some shameful, guilt ridden mire, God assures us that he loves us nonetheless. He tells us not to hide but trust, be honest, confess and repent. He will redeem and hold us safely in His hand forever.