Nothing Hidden

. "Peek-a-boo, I see you." Do you remember playing that game back in the day as a little kid or with little kids you have or know? My Mom used to babysit a lot of kids over the years. I remember my Mom and I playing that game with them all the time. I like to say she babysat the whole community because she really did 😀. Shout out to all the kids that you used to hang out with us! If you're reading this, I love you and appreciate you 💖!! To see their faces light up and laugh when we would cover our eyes and then uncover them in the game was pure joy. They couldn't see our eyes at first as we held our hand in front of them. Sometimes, we would slowly pretend like we were uncovering our eyes and then cover them back real quick. The laughs that my Mom and children had were the absolute best with them! It was so much fun- those were the days I will forever cherish 😀💕. In the game, only your eyes stay covered for a little before they see them. Then the hiding game steps up when you get older with hide and seek. In hide and seek, one person counts to a certain number while everyone else goes to hide. After the person has finished counting, then they go to "seek" everyone else who has hidden. No longer is it just your eyes that are covered, but it's the whole body now. The people intentionally hide their whole body so they can't be found easily by the person who was doing the seeking. In both games described above, some part or all of you are hiding from the view of others. Now these are just games being played, but sometimes (a lot of times if we're honest!), we hide in real life. To hide means not to be seen and out of view of others. In life, we hide our problems, talents, skills, opinions and personality from others. We may not want anyone to know something is wrong and let them believe everything is fine. We may have a certain skill or talent that we keep hidden from others. We may not want people to know our real likes and dislikes or opinions about a certain issue because they may not accept us or want us in their friend circle. We may hide the "real" us because we're afraid of what people may say or think. Now, I agree that we should not tell everybody about everything. However, there should be a few trusted people in our circle that we can tell our problems to. No one's perfect as we all have some issue going on in our lives 🙏. Chances are that someone may be going through the exact same problem you are, but hasn't said anything. They may be relieved to know they are not alone!  I heard someone refer to the people we can share with as our safety circle. These are the people that we know our problem is safe with and will point us in the right direction with support, encouragement and resources. By the way, if those who you call a friend can't accept you for you, then you need to find new friends! We shouldn't need to hide the real us just to be accepted. You know who else we don't have to hide from?! God! He sees everyone and everything going on in the world all at the same time. Proverbs 15:3 says in the Bible that his eyes are everywhere seeing the evil and good. In Psalms 139 in the Bible, David talks about how God has searched us and knows us. He sees it all and nothing is hidden. The light and darkness are all the same to God (v.12)! Since He knows everything, we don't have to hide anything from Him. We don't have to hide our problems or concerns, but can tell Him all about it. Psalms 55:22 says we can give our burden to the Lord and that He will keep us. That's so good to know👏!! We don't have to hide the "real" us from Him. After all, He created us and we were not hid from Him at all (Psalms 139:15-16). We don't have to hide our gifts or talents, but but we can use them to serve God and others. We are needed! We have to use the gifts we've been given wisely (I Peter 4:10, Romans 12:6-8). What we can do is needed in our part of the world God has placed us in. So there's no need to hide. When we seek Him, God will make it clear who should and shouldn't be in our life. Remember, you and all you have to offer are needed and don't need to hide. When we're in our safety circle, we can share sincerely and openly. We most certainly don't have to hide from God either. We can share what's on our heart with Him. Isn't that good news?! No "peek-a-boo" or "hide and seek" required 😀. God bless 💗!!