I can remember as a child playing hide and seek with my friends; and if I recall, we played it a lot! During the summer, we would play for what seemed like hours. (Looking back now, it was probably for only about 20 minutes tops.)
I can still remember one particular time when I found an amazing hiding spot. As I was hiding, the person who was supposed to find me kept passing me by, never looking in the spot where I was. I couldn’t stop laughing to myself because he just couldn’t find me.
After quite sometime of not being found, I got a little worried. So I emerged from my hiding place only to find that my friends had left. They had completely given up on finding me!
And don’t we feel that same way at times in our lives? We may feel lost, alone, abandoned, forgotten, stepped on, ignored, ridiculed – and we feel like we’ll never be found.
Today, Jesus tells us that we will not see him, and a little while later, we will see him (John 16:16-20). Jesus is not playing a game of hide and seek with us. Jesus is reminding us that even though he is not physically present with us – in our sight – he is always with us. He will never leave us by ourselves to face the world alone.
There will be times when we suffer, struggle, grieve and mourn. These are the times when we think that God has abandoned us. But in fact, it is during those most difficult times, when we feel lost, abandoned and forgotten, that Jesus is most present with us. It is during those times when Jesus comforts us the most. We just need to become more open and aware of his loving presence.
Jesus is always here with us. Let us leave behind our grieving and allow him to find us so that our joy in him may be complete.
