When we don’t feel good about ourselves, we might use things like work, food, relationships, and money to build a wall and keep people from getting too close. Another hiding tactic we might use is to keep the focus off ourselves and direct it on to other people by asking things like, ‘How come she passed the exam and I didn’t?’ Or, ‘Why did he get that job and not me?’ – the implication being that the other person didn’t deserve their achievement and that we’re looking for things to criticise about them so we feel better about ourselves. But even worse than pretending with people is pretending with God. When God asked Adam, ‘Where are you?’ He already knew the answer. But He asked anyway, because He wanted Adam to acknowledge where he was and what he had become. Eric Hoffer said, ‘We lie loudest when we lie to ourselves.’ Until we face the truth about ourselves, we’ll find it hard to talk to God. We’ll feel lonely and alienated, and we’ll struggle to let people get close to us in case they see who we ‘really are’. But God already knows everything about us – every emotion, every word and every thought – and He doesn’t reject us. So let’s make this our prayer today: ‘Father, I know You love me. Nothing can change that or steal its joy except my own doubts and my refusal to believe it. You loved me before I was born, You created me according to Your plan, You redeemed me and gave me a special purpose in the world, and You’re working day by day to make me into a person who pleases You’ (see Philippians 2:13). The good news is…we don’t have to hide from God.

What Now?

Pray the prayer in today’s reading slowly, thinking about the truth of each line. Then if you can, share it with someone who you think needs a bit of encouragement today.