My wife and I were talking the other day. Somehow we got on the topic of how, when she was a little girl, she would “hide” by simply putting her hands over her eyes. She would peak around them, but could easily dart her eyes back to where she couldn’t see who or what she was hiding from. She remembered feeling safe behind her hands, as if whatever she was scared of could not see her if she could not see it. Children often pull that trick whenever they need to meet someone new, are watching something frightening on television, or have done something wrong and want to hide from their parents.
I remember our cat, Zero, used to do this. He would stick his head in a box, or under a blanket, believing he was completely hidden. The problem was his entire body was out in the open, for anyone to see. His intent was usually one of two things: to get away from the crowd so no one would bother him, or to control the situation so he could jump out and scare someone.
The game of peak-a-boo is not limited to children and cats.
Children and cats are not the only ones who exhibit this type of behavior. We all play peak-a-boo in different ways, even as adults. However, instead of hiding behind our hands or a blanket, we use a vast array of other behaviors to hide.
We play peak-a-boo when we feel guilty, ashamed, or scared.
When we find ourselves in a situation in which we do not feel smart enough, in an effort to look smarter we might hide behind the use of big words. Alternatively, to avoid saying something others might perceive as stupid, we might choose to hide behind silence. When we find ourselves scared of rejection, we might hide behind a fake smile in an effort to get people to like us. We might let them use and even abuse us with that smile-mask, when we are really anything but happy. Another way we might play peak-a-boo with others when scared of rejection is to mimic Zero’s approach: jump out and scare others off before they have a chance to reject us. We could be highly critical, loud, or even bully someone.
The first game of peak-a-boo was played in the Garden of Eden.
Adam and Eve knew all about this game. They played the first game of peak-a-boo recorded in human history right after they sinned for the first time. For the first time, humans felt fear and shame. Instead of running to meet the Lord when He was strolling through…as they often did, they were terrified of Him. In response, they jumped behind a bush…as if God would not see them. They might as well have hid behind their hands, or stuck their head in a box…with the rest of their bodies exposed. After God acknowledged them and began a conversation with them, Adam and Eve began hiding behind anything they could. They blamed each other and even blamed God for choices they had made.
God wants to help us outgrow peak-a-boo.
From that moment in the Garden of Eden until now, God has been drawing us to Him. While we have been hiding our faces as best we can, He sees us and pursues us anyway. He does not want us to be afraid of Him so that we try to hide. He does not want us to be slaves to fear and shame in our relationships with our spouses, children, friends, or even strangers on the street. He wants us free to enjoy Him and others, in healthy relationships based on love and trust. Through those things, and those things only (love and trust), can we lay down the game and face whatever is in front of us.