Uncovering some covered-up behavior

Recently our stinking cute granddaughter, Katie Grace, spent some time in Florida with her other grandparents, Ya-ya and Pop. Of course Nahnee and Papa are a bit jealous, but that is not the point. While she was away, K.G.’s mom, our daughter, was able to do some serious housecleaning...especially in the room of the 6-year-old.

Toys and books, clothes and artwork made their way to the trash can. None of this would have been possible if K.G. had been there to supervise, since each article that was disposed of was surely her favorite. She becomes very attached to things as well as people. Her love for people has caused much separation anxiety during the pandemic, what with the un-social distancing and all.

But this story is about some hiding places that were discovered during the deep-cleaning of a little girl’s room. Not favorite toys, books, clothing and artwork that had been tucked away for safekeeping, but candy wrappers. Hidden evidence of forbidden treats, secretly consumed over a period of time in the past.

Shannon has always encouraged a healthy diet. Sweets are not banned in their home, but dessert comes after the meal. The goodies are used as a reward for eating the healthy stuff first. We certainly do not want to ruin our appetite by filling up on candy bars or oatmeal cream pies before the fruit and veggies.

Well, as Shannon discovered the hidden wrappers, it became obvious that K.G. had failed to follow the rules a few times, then she had tried to bury the evidence. On a side note, Nahnee and I have found foil wrappers of Hershey kisses with almonds around our house a time or two. At different times, our candy jar has been depleted, before mealtime, by all seven of our grandchildren, and we have discovered discarded wrappers under cushions or in other hiding places throughout our house.  

Her mom pointed out that discretely disposing of the candy wrappers in the garbage can would have probably gone unnoticed. It was when she tried to hide her disobedience that she got caught. We teased her about it later. And she confessed her “sins.” It was so cute!

The Bible is filled with examples of the disobedience of humans and God’s discovery of the attempted cover up. When Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and God came looking for them, they attempted to hide - not an apple core or a candy wrapper - they hid themselves. But it didn’t work. God found them. The consequences were great and far reaching.

 When the first murder was committed, Cain killed Abel and apparently tried to hide the body, God said, “Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.”

Ananias and Sapphira, members of the early church, lied to the congregation and to the Holy Spirit, but they couldn’t hide the truth from God. The result was very severe.

 Have you ever committed a sin, then tried to cover it up or hide it from God? Most of us have, but we cannot hide anything from Him. In Numbers 32:23 God told every member of the nation of Israel, “...be sure your sin will find you out.” Same goes for all of us. By the way, the proper way to “dispose of the candy wrappers” is to confess our sin and pray for God’s forgiveness.

When our grandchildren eat candy before dinner and try to hide the evidence, it is so stinking cute. When we disobey God’s commands - any of them - and try to cover it up, it is not cute at all. It is very serious. Every person in the whole world needs to know this.

Steve Playl, playlsr@yahoo.com