When I was younger, I remember one time specifically that I got in trouble while I was being babysat. I was a product of 1990’s cartoons and wanted to see if slipping on a banana peel actually worked. I put one by my sister when she was practicing her ballet and she stepped on it and fell. I quickly ran to my room and hid under my covers. I promise I was not laughing. My babysitter at the time came into my room and started saying loudly, “Where is Kearsten?”. I thought I was so clever to avoid her wrath and punishment by hiding. Looking back on it now, she was calling me out and but she knew where I was the whole time (the child-size lump under the sheets really gave it away).

There is no hiding from God. He is the Supreme Seeker. The One who filled our lungs with breath knows the good, the bad, and the ugly. We can’t hide from His knowledge of us, His Love, His Power, and His Presence. Before we even know we’re lost, God seeks us. How do we respond to this? Simple, our Seeker is waiting to be sought. We have to devote our lives to seeking God. The root word of seek is the latin word “sagire”, which means to perceive by scent. We must give our whole being to breathing in the fragrance of God and come to realize and understand His Nature, His Love, and His Will for our lives.

The aromas of this earth will try to pull us away from God. We have to experience everything through God. We cannot try to experience this life on our own. The same thing that smells great to us, could be the thing that derails us from seeking the Lord. Remember in Genesis 25:29-35 when Esau came in from working in the field and was starving? The scent of the stew that Jacob was cooking smelled so good, that Esau was willing to sell his birthright to Jacob for a serving. The aroma of the soup took Esau away from God’s plan for his life. Was it worth it to not seek God in that moment? Is the stew you are choosing really better than following God? I can answer that for you - it isn’t. No scent on this earth compares to the fragrance of our Heavenly Father. His promises won’t fail us and He will never come up short. We are all like Esau in some area of our life. We think we have control and know what we are doing. Ask God to show you where you can seek Him more. The more that you seek God, the more you will find Him. He isn’t hiding from you. He is always ready to be found.

From Darkness Into Light

I still sometimes retreat to that mentality of the little girl I once was, hiding under my covers. I know God can see me. I know He is waiting for me to turn around. He is even calling me out! In the classic hide and seek game, the seeker says, “Ready or not, here I come!” This isn’t God’s posture. Whether we are ready or not, He is always there. I have to put aside my pride, and be willing to remove the barriers of sin in my life, repent, and call out my desperate need for Him. Isaiah 65:1 says, “I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me, I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, ‘Here I am, here I am,” to a nation that was not called by my name.” God makes Himself available to be found by those who do not want to know Him or be known by Him. The same God that is waiting for a response to His presence, even by those who are blatantly ignoring Him, is always ready and available to be found by those who seek Him. Jeremiah 29:13.

How do we respond to the Seeker that calls us out? We have to turn from our ways and repent Acts 3:19. We must seek God with our lives 1 Chronicles 22:19. We must devote time to learning about God, His heart, His promises, and His will for our lives through reading His Word and prayer 2 Chronicles 7:14. Come out, come out wherever you are.