“…For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known.” Matthew 10:26b

Hiding In Plain Sight

Walk His Way Revisited

Remember when the kids were little and they would hide from us in the house? We’d call and call, and inevitably, we’d see little sock-feet standing behind the drapes. In their minds, if they couldn’t see us, then we couldn’t see them.

My cat plays this game, too. I call her from the hallway, and I can see her in the next room sitting behind a shoe, as if the shoe shielded her from being seen. Her tail twitches in agitation, daring me to find her. 

I feel this way about my now-grown kids. They are hiding in plain sight. They are nearby, but it feels like I don’t really know them any more. They aren’t who they were when they lived at home. Often, they don’t even resemble who I knew them to be. When I visit them, I enter their world, their life. I pray that the training and prayers of our eighteen years together will pull them in the right direction, but they get to choose. Their internal world is hidden from me. 

As when they hid behind the drapes, I can see where they stand, but I can’t see their eyes. Their countenance, that face I used to be able to read so clearly, is hidden.

I am so thankful my adult kids can’t hide from God. Their sins are not hidden (Psalm 69:5) from Him. (Neither are mine.) Where can they go from His presence? I find that I can trust God more when I remember His great love for them, far greater than my own love for them, and I know that even if I don’t know what’s going on inside of them, He does.

Other people’s lives aren’t mine to judge, thankfully. I’d get it all wrong, but God gets it right, because He doesn’t see as we see, doesn’t judge as we would judge. “Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one’s praise will come from God” (1 Corinthians 4:5). That’s the point: it isn’t time to judge. It isn’t over. They’re still breathing.

I’ll happily let God call the final shots in the lives of my loved ones. He’ll do it right. He sees their sins, but also sees their reality, their potential, their quiet thoughts in deep moments, the fears they face, the good they want to do, their repentance before Him even when they can’t seem to get it right in real time. He sees them, not dimly like I do, but with His own bright light illuminating their inward parts.

He knows what to judge, and what to praise. Bless His Name, He is holy and just in all His doings.

Lord, You are One who can be trusted with judgment. We entrust our loved ones to You. We know the final call is Yours to make. Thank You for seeing. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.