When you don’t feel good about yourself, you use things like work, food, relationships, money, and mood-altering substances to build a wall and keep people from getting too close. But lasting relationships can only be built when you stop hiding and become transparent with others. Another hiding tactic we employ is keeping the focus on other people by asking, ‘How come she got a new house and I didn’t?’ Or, ‘Why did he get that job and not me?’ That kind of thinking just makes you miserable. But even worse than pretending with people is pretending with God. When God asked Adam, ‘Where are you?’ He already knew the answer. So why did He ask the question? 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 you face the truth about yourself, you will find it hard to talk to God. You will feel lonely and alienated. And you will struggle to look people in the eye in case they see the ‘real you’. It’s time to come out of hiding, get down on your knees, and say: ‘Father, I know you love me. Nothing can change that or rob me of its joy except my own doubts and refusal to believe it. You loved me before I was born, you fashioned 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 – you don’t have to hide anymore!