By Louise McEvoy, Women’s Ministry Coordinator

Isaiah 29:13, 15-16 (VOICE)
Eternal One: 13 These people think they can draw near to Me by saying the right things,
        by honoring Me with their lips, but their hearts are far away from Me.
    Their worship of Me consists of man-made traditions learned by rote;
        it is a meaningless sham.
15 Oh, it’ll be bad for those of you who conceal your thoughts from the Eternal,
    who do your deeds in the dark and say:
“Who sees us? Who knows what we are doing?”
16 My goodness, how you’ve turned things around!
    You seem to think that the potter is equal to the clay;
Should the pot say about the potter, “He didn’t make me”?
    Or does the thing formed say about the one who formed it,
“He doesn’t understand anything”?

Reflection:
My girls absolutely love to play Hide-and-Seek, especially my little one. The challenge is not just to hide, but to hide really, really well. It can be at our house, at their grandparents’ home, or at a friend’s home. It can be anywhere. There is something to be said about temporarily baffling your sisters and parents. Perhaps it is a sense of power—the person hiding knows something no one else knows. 

This version of Isaiah 29 from The Voice (not the reality show, but the Bible translation) spoke to my heart. This passage shows Isaiah rebuking some folks who were involved in some pretty dark business. But there’s a small measure of his point that we can glean for today. 

If you are like me, you try to do your best each and every day. At St. Luke’s, one of our Inside-Out Habits is to pray and worship. Yet most of us only do this within our comfort zones, within our standards. The One who deserves all our unconditional, fully surrendered praise calls us out in verse 13. On the outside, we may look like we are worshiping and we may even check-in our attendance to help the staff plan accordingly (thanks by the way). Yet these are external characteristics. What about the inside? Have you let your heart move into a place of worship? As we go through the motions to help us remember and focus, are we really “there,” and have we made room within us to truly be present with God? Before we know it we are playing a weird version of Hide-and-Seek in church with God. 

Now I’ll be the first to admit that I have sat in the Fellowship Hall on Sunday morning and innocently been distracted. Sometimes it feels like I am lucky that I even made it to church! When I do this, verse 13 is super convicting. Ouch. Church is a safe place where we can open our hearts to God in worship. That’s the most authentic response we can have to God’s love. Verses 15 and 16 state that playing this Hide-and-Seek with deeper issues on your hearts is not a good idea. We might think that concealment is the way to go, but we have gotten it all wrong. When need not hide things from our great Creator as if to say, “You don’t know me that well, and I’d like to keep it that way. I’m not quite sure that you’ll understand me on this particular issue.” 

Our awesome and incredible God wants quality, authentic, and honest time with you. In response, remember it is right to give our thanks and praise for everything. It’s what we were made to do. Be brave. Especially with The Faithful One who knows it all and still loves us anyway. We may play Hide-and-seek with God, but God always wins. God’s love endures forever. 

Prayer:
Everlasting God, praising and worshipping you is an honor and a gift. Please equip us with focus and discernment. Help remind us that being with you is the safest space. The space to be brave. The space to confess. The space to be authentic. The space to be honest. We pray that we all experience your powerful presence, forgiveness, and acceptance. In Jesus’ most precious name we pray. Amen.