“No one can hide where I cannot see him,” says the Lord. “I fill all of heaven and earth,” says the Lord.

I loved playing hide and seek as a child. Did you? It is such a classic game. We used to play it all the time with my cousins, especially at my nans house as it had plenty of small spaces to crawl and sneak in to. I like to think I was pretty good at playing too – at the hiding part, at least.

Sometimes I think I’ve taken the spirit of the game into my adult life though. Sometimes, during particularly difficult periods of my life, I have hidden or avoided all sorts of people and things. That has been from the most basic of crossing the street, or diving into a shop, to avoid chatting to a friend of acquaintance I’m passing on the street. It goes all the way to fabricating plans in order to avoid a situation or event I don’t want to take part in. At its worse, this has mean timing social media posts to backup my story.

I do that with God too. I adjust my reality in my mind to fit a better narrative and think that I can convince God of this ‘new’ life I am living. I try and hide sins that I am caught in or, worse, choosing to take part in as if God can’t see them.

This verse reminds me that cannot be true – there is no place to hide from God.

It reminds me of russian dolls. Wherever a russian doll goes, the ones inside it must follow. They have no choice. And if the inside ones move, the outside one inevitability has to as well. In this analogy, we are the inside and God is the outside. No matter where we move, he is with us.

For me, that comes as a challenge and an encouragement simultaneously.

The challenge is about what I’ve just described – my games of hide and sick. If God is always with me, as this verse says, then I cannot ide my sin from God. It is the highest form of accountability. This does not mean God is watching me over like a ‘big brother’ camera waiting to catch me out and condemn me. But, it does give me an extra reason to avoid those sinful situations in my life – particularly issues of habitual sin. Perhaps, knowing God is with me in those moments, can help me make different choices?

This verse though, is also a huge encouragement, as it means God can always see what is going on in my life. Even if I don’t understand it, can’t comprehend it and can’t explain to it. It means I can pray about it without having to utter a single word. God knows it all. He can see it all.

It means that when I walk into the darkest and most difficult situations in my life, God is there/ He goes before me, surrounds me and follows after me. That is an encouragement because it means, at all and any times, I can lean into his love and compassion. He can hold my close, we can walk together and, if needed, he can carry me through.

*time up*

Related scriptures: Psalm 139:7-12, Jeremiah 29:10-11, Colossians 3:3