Friend, true freedom doesn’t come when we’ve successfully hidden; it comes when we’re found out but still accepted and cherished through God’s gracious love. Run to the true Light—Jesus himself—and find the forgiveness and freedom you long for in him.

My friends Ben and Paige have a 3-year-old named Ruth who loves playing hide-and-seek. Ruth hiding from her dad is one of the sweetest things I’ve seen. For a moment, she tries (usually unsuccessfully) to conceal herself. But after a few seconds of solitude, Ruth gets restless, and it becomes clear that all she wants is to be seen by her dad. She wants to be found.

If Ben doesn’t get to her promptly, Ruth will step into the open and shout, “Here I am, Daddy! Here I am!” She knows the ultimate prize isn’t successfully hiding but being found by her loving father. The greatest joy is in being known and held by him.

Like Ruth hiding from her dad, we can spend our lives hiding from God and others. Yet deep down, we know life’s greatest prize is being found: known and loved.

To experience this joy, we must let ourselves be seen—including our sins, weaknesses, and insecurities. We must say with Ruth, “Here I am!” and step into the light. But what kind of light is safe?

World’s Light

The world typically responds in one of three ways when someone’s sins are exposed—all detrimental to that person’s growth:

1. Shame: This response sees someone stuck in a pit of sin and throws dirt on him, burying him and making freedom even harder.
2. Ignore: This response sees someone stuck in a pit of sin and walks past, pretending never to see her fallen condition.
3. Celebrate: This response sees someone stuck in a pit of sin and congratulates him, encouraging him to stay where he is.

Notice that the world’s light never frees us but only leads to deeper pain and bondage. Thus, when stuck in a pit of sin, we’ll be tempted to think our greatest need is to hide in the shadows—to keep away from the light. Yet our greatest need isn’t a darkness that hides but a light that frees and forgives. We were made for the light, but it must be the right light.

Jesus’s Light

John 4:1-42 powerfully differentiates the world’s light from Christ’s light. Jesus meets a Samaritan woman whose isolation suggests her community had outcasted her for her sins. When Jesus shined light onto her life (v. 16), she seemed to expect the same harsh treatment, so she hid (v. 17)—afraid to be seen and known.

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