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Playing Games

 Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him,

On those who wait for His faithfulness,
To rescue their soul from death
And to keep them alive in famine.

Our soul waits for the Lord;
He is our help and our shield.
 For our heart rejoices in Him,
Because we trust in His holy name.
Let Your favor, Lord, be upon us,
Just as we have waited for You. (Psalm 34:18-22)

 

Yesterday was a difficult day. In the middle of it, I took some time out to pray and meditate about one of God’s many names. Which one? That was the problem of the moment. There are a lot of names that might be useful. The problem is that God is God. I may ask that He be Jehovah-Rophi (The Lord, the Physician) and He might come to me as Jehovah-Shalom (The Lord, Our Peace.) So, my prayer became, “Who are you, Lord? Who do You wish to be in my life right now?”

And the answer that came back? I suppose you might say it was a sort of smile. I love words, and I love definitions, but one of the things that I’ve learned about definitions is that the limit the thing defined. God can’t be limited in that way, so, at least as it seemed to me, He said that He would not tell me, but that I should observe and try to guess.

And my mind, being my mind, returned, “Charades?” It’s not quite Charades, because God isn’t pantomiming. It’s not even His goal for me to guess, it is to do what He does, and if I wish, I can try to guess what it is He’s doing. This morning as I continue to think about the matter, it seems to me we’re also playing Hide and Go Seek. Again, it’s not that God is necessarily hiding, but that I need to seek Him as if He were hiding because my seeing Him – well, let’s just say that it’s closer to Blind Man’s Bluff.

This may all sound quite silly, but if taken seriously (as I hope) it’s likely to change the way I seek, see, and find God.

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