One of the marks of Christian maturity is figuring out when we are waiting for God and when God is waiting for us. In playing tag or hide-and-go-seek, we need to know who is “it.”
Sometimes I have gotten powerfully touched by God and then stood around for months longing for another touch. I have even gotten peeved at God and cried, “Where are you God? Why don’t you touch me again?” But this reaction reveals I don’t get how the game is played.
Some might be offended that I am comparing playing tag to our relationship with God, but play and worship are alike in important ways. Both are an end in themselves and both are characterized by delight. Perhaps you have seen a giggling child running away from a parent, but then looking back with delight to discover the parent running after them. Or the joy of a child when Daddy is discovered hiding behind the curtains.
Often God touches us with his love and reality and essentially says, “You’re it.” He hides because it is now our turn to chase after him. Both his touch and his hiding are expressions of His love because as we chase after Him we grow. Our faith muscles get a work-out. There is joy in the chase.
And when we play hide-and-seek, we learn the ways of God. Like a child that learns all the places Daddy hides, we learn where to find God. He hides in the faces of the poor, in acts of humble service, in extravagant worship and devotion. He is often discovered in simple acts of faithfulness: praying when we don’t feel like it, praising him because he is worthy, reading his Word even when it seems dry. Sometimes he jumps out at us in the sunrise, sunset or roar of the ocean.
Not only do we discover the ways of God when we pursue him, we are often surprised by joy as we discover where He has been hiding. It is easier to have the energy to play, if we understand that God wants to be found. Our joy at discovering him fills God with delight. Like a child clinging to her daddy’s leg, we joyfully grab God when we discover where He is hiding. We laugh together.
Some don’t like the phrase “pursuing God” because it sounds like relationship with God is something we achieve or earn through our diligence. That is not the kind of pursuit of God I am talking about. This is play not work. This chasing after God is all grace because he first loved and touched me. But now, “I’m it.” Both His touch and the chase are expressions of grace.
Let me add that there are times of brokenness and bewilderment when I have to get still and say, “God, you’re it. I need your touch.” I have found God faithful in these times. God pursued us before we even joined in the game and always finds us when we lose our way.
But usually if I’m not pursuing God, it is not because of my brokenness, it is because my stubbornness. Sometimes I pout. In my self-centered boredom, complacency, or sourness, I can refuse to play. Sometimes I only want to play by my rule, “Touch me all the time, every time.”
Jesus, however, is gracious and lovingly persistent. He stands at the door and knocks. He asks, “Can Mark come out and play?”
Ready or not, here I come.
