04.08.03

“O LORD, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O LORD, You know it altogether. You have hedged me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain it. Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me. If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall fall on me,’ even the night shall be light about me; indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, but the night shines as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to You.” - Psalm 139:1-12.

A new fashion trend has struck Hong Kong in the wake of the fear of SARS (The pneumonia-like disease that has spread from China to several countries.). Wearing surgical masks will hopefully prevent the spread of the disease and most of the seven million people in Hong Kong are now wearing them. Masks are now being marketed with bold colors and designs because the fashion conscious want their masks to match their total ensemble. There are even masks with cartoon characters, psychedelic colors and polka dots but the plain white or black off-the-shelf mask is still available. There is also concern about which masks are able to offer the greatest protection from SARS. Jane Chan, a marketing executive wears a plain off-the-shelf mask but said, “I like wearing masks because they can hide my pimples and make me look mysterious. I think people in Hong Kong are looking better now that they’re wearing masks.”

Some people are not trying to hide from a disease but from God. They think that they are smarter than God because they seem to have avoided any major consequences. God apparently doesn’t know where they are - at least that may be what they think in the deepest part of their heart. It could be that one day they will be left behind by God in a very literal sense.

We were taking a group of children skating one evening and we thought we had every one loaded into the van and other vehicles. However, we were surprised when the parents of one child arrived at the skating rink and asked where their son was. We looked everywhere but he wasn’t there! We called and asked some people to go and look for the boy at the church. He was still there! What had happened? We had seen him there with the other children and all of the children appeared to be inside the vehicles ready to go before we left the church. I had gone back into the church looking around and calling out that we were leaving. What could have happened? The parents shared that their son had been making a game of hiding whenever they were ready to go somewhere. Apparently he had done so again at church but this time he was left behind and missed out on a fun evening of skating.

Make no mistake; God knows exactly where you are. Even if you are doing your very best to hide, God still knows where you are and the only thing your hiding will accomplish will be to harm yourself. God makes it clear in Psalm 139 that distance cannot hide us, darkness cannot hide us, and even death cannot hide us from Him. Please don’t miss out on all the great and wonderful things that God has in store for you in this life and beyond by trying to hide from Him.