Hidden Things

This morning my four year old daughter hid both my home and cell phones from me. I asked her if she had seen either of my phones and she looked at me with serious eyes and said “No, Mommy. I haven’t seen your cell phone or your home phone today.”

After searching and searching, I finally emailed my husband’s assistant to call each phone so I could locate them. As I heard each phone ringing, I was led to my daughter’s bedroom. As she was watching me uncover the hidden phones, one in a doll house and the other inside her play kitchen oven, I could see the guilt on her face.

I asked her why she hid the phones from me. With her chin down and convicted eyes she confessed, “I was trying to call The Hulk. I didn’t want you to know, so I hid the phones.”

The Hulk? Really?  I guess she wasn’t having a very good day and was calling on The Hulk for some back up. As I received this revelation, I was swallowing giggles and trying to keep a serious face because, after all, she lied to me about even seeing the phones. The funny thing is, I wouldn’t have been disappointed that she was trying to call The Hulk. I just didn’t want her to hide things from me.

Can’t we be the same way with the Lord? Matthew 10:26 says, “The time is coming when everything that is covered will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all.”  Sometimes we think we can live like no one is watching, like the real fear in life is being caught, not being known.

The word “hidden” in the original Greek language in Matthew 10:26 doesn’t only refer to things being hidden or concealed, but also refers to the inner part of a man’s soul. It is referring to the person we are privately, in secret, deep down inside where no one else sees.

Like my daughter, it’s in our human nature to hide our sin, to conceal what we don’t want the world to see. It’s been happening since the very first sin in the Garden of Eden. But with the love and grace that Jesus has poured out over us, why do we try to conceal anything from the One who really knows us? For me, it isn’t just being caught that is scary, but being known deep down and letting someone see everything in my life. When I think of all the Lord knows and all He is able to see deep in my heart, I’m thankful for His grace because there are parts of me that just aren’t very pretty. He knows things that I don’t think I’d want the whole world to know. Yet, His grace and love have covered me over and over again and proven to me that who I am deep down is safe with Him.

Nothing is really hidden. Everything is laid bare before Him and He still loves us no matter what we really look like on the inside. Just like the hidden phones, the hidden things will be found out, so we might as well walk with Him openly in the process. I’m not upset with my daughter for trying to call The Hulk, I just want her to be confident enough in my love for her that she feels like she can tell me anything. Nothing she tells me could ever make me love her less. With the Lord, it’s the relationship He wants. He already knows every hidden thing, and nothing will ever change His mind about how much He loves us.