You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13 ESV

On late summer afternoons when I was a kid, our favorite thing to do was play “kick the can.” For those unfamiliar with the game, it is a hide and seek with the seeker working from the middle of the street with one foot on a tin can. He or she goes off to find people, then rushes back, puts one foot on the can and shouts, “123! I see Johnny behind the bush!” Then the found one must come and sit on the curb and this goes on till everyone is found. But if the seeker gets just a bit too far from the can, some child inevitably comes running full speed ahead from their hiding place and if they can get to the can to kick it before the seeker gets back, then everyone goes free! On those afternoons as the shadows deepened it grew easier and easier to hide and we never wanted to quit. But eventually our parents would begin to call us. I can still hear their voices in my mind; “Louie! Wally! Peter!” At first, we would pretend not to hear because we hoped for another chance to sneak quietly towards the can at the center of the street with the longing to rush out one more time kick it over!

God is also hidden sometimes, but the darkness that hides God is not a part of a game He plays. That is the darkness of own hearts when decide to ignore His voice as He calls our names. But there is hope for anyone who will hear Him. There is hope when we become seekers for Him because God is already looking for us. There is hope because God does not want to be hidden. He has been looking for us since Adam and Eve tried to hide from Him in the garden. We have hope because when no one heard His call, He still came to the manger of Bethlehem, to the blind man at the fountain and to the woman caught in the act of adultery. God calls, God comes, and God is our hope no matter how dark the night!