Hidden

"Get up! Command the people to purify themselves in preparation for tomorrow. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Hidden among you, O Israel, are things set apart for the Lord. You will never defeat your enemies until you remove these things from among you." Joshua 6-7

As we boarded our return flight, I began to process the rest of the realities of getting home. Land in next airport, transfer to next plane, land, get luggage, take shuttle to car, drive home. "Drive home", I thought again. "I need the key. Where's the key?", I asked myself and then my sweetheart and then my kids. We all took turns scouring my briefcase. No key. I prayed. We all prayed. It turns out God cares about keys. Deep in the recesses of my suitcase, hidden at the very bottom of my toiletry bag -- the key.  

Joshua had a problem on his hands. He didn't even know it until they lost a battle, badly. He and the other leaders fell on their face before God for hours. The Lord told him what the problem was. Something was hidden. Something that rightfully belonged to God had been stolen, hidden and then lied about in an attempted cover-up. Victory would elude the people of Israel until the wrong that was done was made right. The hidden must be exposed. The hider? Well, let's just say it didn't end well.

Hiding is a problem we all have to confront. We keep things hidden for any number of reasons. We're embarrassed. We're attempting to meet a real need in a wrong way. We're convinced the ends justify the means. The truth, however, is that nothing is truly hidden. We know. Others probably know. Certainly, God knows. O, may this truth guide our steps! "If we walk in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all our sins."

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