Out of Hiding

I’m listening to “Out of Hiding” by Steffany Gretzinger and Amanda Cook right now. If you haven’t listened to it yet, please do before you continue reading. I’ll wait.

Isn’t it amazing?! It also breaks my heart. It brings me to a childhood that I never really had. I listen to it and I imagine a child hiding because she just broke something or messed something up or did something “bad”. She’s afraid of her dad yelling at her and thinks that her dad will stop loving her. Her dad knows what she did and is looking for her. He finds her hiding and sweetly calls out to her to come out. “It’s okay. You made a mistake, but it’s okay. Come here, sweetheart. I can fix this”. She peeks out, but is still afraid. He just keeps his gaze on her with the most loving of eyes and continues to gently beckon to her.

I have a confession: I am that little girl. The father in this situation is not my earthly one, but my Heavenly One. I am so afraid of messing up and when I do, I’m terrified of coming back to Him, thinking that I just broke our relationship. So I hide. Behind a curtain, under the bed, in a closet, it doesn’t matter. I hide and say nothing, afraid of messing things up even more. I’m afraid that I’m too damaged. No need to cover what I already see. He knows what I’ve done, but nothing I do will ever cause Him to stop loving me. All I ever want to do is run into His arms, but I’m afraid. I don’t deserve it. I’ve messed up too many times. You’ve got your reasons, but I hold your peace. He understands why I am hiding, but He just wants me to stop it. Freedom. He wants freedom for me. He continues to call, to beckon, to stretch out His loving arms waiting patiently for me to run into them.

Lord, draw me out of hiding. I want to be held by you.

Come out of hiding. You’re safe here with me.