Hidden In Sight

“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 

For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened." -Luke 11:9-10

My kindergarteners have this music game they love called, "Turtle, Turtle".  One student hides a stuffed turtle somewhere in the room and another student looks for it.  The clues are given by which dynamic the class sings.  If they sing the little song loudly (forte), the searcher is close to the hidden turtle, but if they sing quietly (piano), the searcher is far away.

Every kindergarten class begs to play this game- often.  They LOVE the chance to be both the one that hides the turtle and the seeker of the turtle.  The only downfall is that there is never enough time for every kid in class to do both; I invariably have at least one kid crying as we line up because they never got picked.

Each time a class plays, "Turtle, Turtle", I am fascinated by their habitual patterns.  The same five or six places are consistently chosen as hiding spots.  Each of these spots requires the searcher to open something in order to find the turtle.  Occasionally one of the hiders will sit the turtle in a new spot.  This is usually a spot that is visible to all and seems like the worst place to hide a turtle, because it's not hidden at all. 

This happened in class today.  A student "hid" the turtle on the piano.  Now you might think that the child seeking wouldn't need the class to give them cues, that they would immediately see the turtle and go straight for it.  However, this didn't happen.  The seeker actually had a harder time finding the turtle that was visible to everyone else.  They went to the usual spots, ignoring the other childrens' singing clues.  It wasn't until they were frustrated that they started listening to their classmates and quit trying to find the turtle on their own.

As I watched, it struck me that this is what we often do with God.  Instead of trusting that He has the answers, we go back to the same "places" to try to solve our problems or find comfort for our worries.  We think that because things in the "game" of life don't seem to change, that the answers must still be in the typical places, too stubborn to realize that we are turning up empty.  We persist in doing it on our own, ignoring the voice that is trying to lead and direct us.  And like my students, it usually takes frustration for us to give up and realize that we have help.  Not just any help, but a help that knows the answers for He can see what has become hidden in plain view.  A help has been there all along wanting to direct our path if we will just listen to His voice.