Wanting to be found – but hiding to not be found.

"Tessa heard more words roll through her mind and recorded them in her journal as they did: We want the benefits of intimacy without the risks of transparency. So our lives are always made up of games of hide-and-seek. We want to be found and yet we want to hide from the consequences of being found. Intimacy is the license that you give to someone else to hurt you the most."

from "Checkmate: The Bowers Files" by Steven James

We act like this with people.
Wanting love, but not really wanting it - because it's scary.
Wanting the "chase" for love - but not wanting to actually have the love - because the chase is more fun.
Not wanting the intimacy - because that will ultimately be followed by hurt and pain.

We do the same thing with God

It's "fun" to be a new Christian.  There's the excitement.  Lot's of people are happy for you.
Even the Heavens rejoice.

^{Lk 15:3} Then Jesus told them this parable: ⁴ “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? ⁵ And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders ⁶ and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ ⁷ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

It's an amazing experience.

But it doesn't last.

At least the feeling with your fellow Christians doesn't last.
After all - they're people.  Just like you.

That's not unexpected either.

The Parable of the Sower

13:1-15 pp — Mk 4:1-12; Lk 8:4-10
13:16, 17 pp — Lk 10:23, 24
13:18-23 pp — Mk 4:13-20; Lk 8:11-15

^{Mt 13:1} That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. ² Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. ³ Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. ⁴ As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵ Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. ⁶ But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. ⁸ Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. ⁹ He who has ears, let him hear.”
...
^{Mt 13:18} “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: ¹⁹ When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. ²⁰ The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. ²¹ But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. ²² The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. ²³ But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”

We realize the problem here when we see that the seed that falls on good soil is the one where we are not congratulated by others for our success.  A small number of people, like Billy Graham, will become well known for their evangelism.  Most of us will never reach that point.  Truth is - it's a good thing, because we couldn't handle the pressures and the likelihood that pride will come with it and ruin everything.  We just have to have the faith that what we're doing is producing results.  Even if we never see them.

But we aren't like that.  Satan convinces is that not seeing results means there are no results.

So we start the "chase" - we start to grow because we love God.
But then, the "fun" is gone - the excitement is gone - it starts to become "ordinary" - and we chase after something else.

Why?