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Hide OR Seek? Many years ago, when my daughter was only 3 or 4 years old, she and I would play Hide and Seek in our seminary apartment. I would go down the hall and hide in one of the bedrooms, or even in the bathroom, while she was with her mother in the living room. Once the countdown was complete, I would wait for her to come and seek me. And wait. And wait. And wait. Finally, I would come out of hiding, only to find out that she was too scared to even come down the hall! So much for Hide and Seek! I say "Hide and Seek" because when God calls us to play His "game", it isn't and, but or—Hide or Seek! You see, each one of us has a very real choice to make—are we going to hide from God and His expectations, or are we going to seek Him and His ways with all that is in us? In fact, if there is to be any hiding at all, let it be in Him, and not from Him! The problem is unbelief. Dr. A.W. Tozer, a very powerful 20th Century voice for true Christianity, once wrote, "Remember—unbelief always finds three trees behind which to hesitate and hide. Here they are: Somebody Else. Some Other Place. Some Other Time." While thinking on this, I was led to Judges 6, 7, and 8—the very powerful story of Gideon. Now, first of all, it is very interesting to note that the name "Gideon," in the Hebrew, literally refers to a "feller" of things, and specifically, of trees—to destroy them. Talk about prophetic! Who was he? Well, between the years 1375 and 1050 BC, God, in His mercy, gave His people judges, who functioned as military leaders and civil magistrates, to help keep them on the right path. You see, it was during this time—as was true at about every time, including our own—"…every man did that which was right in his own eyes." (Judges 17:6b) Over and over again, as the people would stray from the Lord and His ways, God would send trouble in the form of an invading army. When the people would cry out to Him, He would raise up a deliverance through one of these judges. Such was the case in Gideon's day. When the Midianites attacked, and they forced Israel to take to the hills and hide in caves. They even destroyed many of their crops. And this is where the Lord finds Gideon—"And there came an angel of the Lord, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour." (Judges 6:11-12) And Gideon, who was "hiding" behind this tree, probably looked all around, as though to say, "Who, me? Are you talking to someone else? Mighty man? Valour? Me? You have got to be kidding! Or was He? This is the very first tree we often try to hide behind—"Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? Behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house." (vs.15) He sounds humble, but it is a very false humility—a humility that stems from unbelief. Just a minute before this, when he had voiced his complaint concerning how God had forsaken His people, the angel made clear that God had not, and that He was about to prove it—through Gideon, and not Somebody Else! But he didn't believe it. Why not? He knew that God had done miracles in the past, but he, personally, hadn't seen any. But if God was really calling him, He would empower him. It is false humility to suggest He can't or won't. And this is where I can often try to hide—behind the tree of individuality, claiming that I've got to be me—whatever it takes for me to be OK is OK. Concerning this, Tozer once said, "Independence is a strong human trait, so men and women everywhere bristle when anyone says, 'You owe obedience.' We live in a generation alienated from God, making a great case for individualism and the right for self-determination. The individual's strong statement is this: 'I belong to myself. No one has the authority to require my obedience!'" In other words, get Somebody Else…not me! I like my God generic, if you don't mind! Ah, but God does mind! We all know that Jesus came to suffer and die on the Cross in order to take away sin, but do we also know that that includes the control sin has over our daily lives? And do I know that that includes me—personally? And does my life show it? Do you know that if you had been the only sinner in the entire world, Jesus still would have died to take away your sin? Do you? He is not just out to save this world, and doesn't give a hoot about you—He is a very personal God! But "personal" is at the very opposite end of the spectrum from "individual." Though they sound like the same thing, the latter is based in pride, arrogance, and unbelief, while the former is rooted in a true understanding of the love and mercy of God. We need to step out from behind this tree of false humility, and come out into the open where God can reach us with His searching and illuminating light—the power of the Holy Spirit! This, my friend, is not a good time for playing games. Once that hiding place is out of the way, we need to deal with the second one—Some Other Place! God had not only told Gideon that He would be his strength, but He proved it by making fire come forth from a rock—a sign that the Lord would be both his provision and his purifying fire. OK—Gideon was now ready for whatever God had in mind for him personally—"Take thy father's young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the grove that is by it: And build an altar unto the Lord thy God upon the top of this rock, in the ordered place, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which thou shalt cut down." (vss. 25,26) "What? You've got to be kidding! He'll kill me!" But guess what?—no such response is found in the Scriptures. He could have reneged, saying, "OK, I understand you want the false gods to fall, but my own family's? Couldn't I go to the next town and do it—you know, Some Other Place?" But, Praise God, he didn't! How often do we try to hide behind the tree of our own decision making—how and where we will accomplish His will? We might leave a tract on the magazine table in a doctor's office, but we won't take a stand as our own kids get sucked into the world's ungodly ways—after all, we wouldn't want to offend them. Have you ever muttered under your breath, "If I were only in Some Other Place—different circumstances, then I would do what God says." No you wouldn't—that's just an excuse! In these last of days, we not only need to step out from behind this tree, but it needs to come down. And, Praise God, that is exactly what Gideon did—he cut down the grove of trees that represented the false gods of our own way. Set the axe to the root—these trees of unbelief must go, and they will, if the Holy Spirit has His way! Gideon would indeed become a mighty man of valour, as you can see in Chapter 7, but then comes Chapter 8. The people wanted to make him their king, which he quite rightly refused—"the Lord shall rule over you." (vs. 23b) Instead, he stepped out of bounds and took a place that was not his to take—the tragic fruit of selfish individuality. He made a priestly ephod, and "and all Israel went a-whoring after it: which thing became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house." (vs. 27) Literally, in the Hebrew, he was hooked in the nose and led around by it. Even after all of the trees had been cut down, another one managed to sprout, and no one recognized the danger. God is expecting His people to walk with Him all the way—even until the very end. After Gideon submitted, he ran well—for awhile! You don't run a race, and 50 feet from the finish line, slow way down—and yet, so often, we go just so far and say, "Maybe later!" This tree of Some Other Time seems to hide many—people who think they are saved because they are "good," but have no intention of making Jesus Lord anytime soon; those who claim they are saved, but think they can just "tack on" a deeper life of obedience at some future time…if they want to; and, those who think that because they have made their commitment, the battle is over, and from here on out—smooth sailing! This is a very big tree! The truth is that the battle has only just begun, for when we step out of our places of hiding and desire to be seekers instead, Satan gets furious. But remember—God is far greater! Some Other Time just won't cut it, so you cut it—let it fall! Quit hiding and be a seeker of God instead—it's one or the other. Not Somebody Else, but you! Not Some Other Place, but right here! Not Some Other Time, but right now! Which will you choose? Don't be scared of the long hallway—Father God is down there, and He isn't even hiding—"Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." (Matt. 6:33) Copyright (c)
2005 Christ Our Rock Bible Church. |
