No Need to Hide – March 3, 2020

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
Genesis 3:8

No Need to Hide

“Come out; come out, wherever you are!” Anyone who has ever played hide-and-seek has heard someone shout those words. Who would ever have imagined God saying those words in the Garden of Eden? But then again, this wasn’t a game, was it? Adam and Eve weren’t playing a fun game of hide-and-seek. They weren’t having any fun at all.

Something had gone terribly wrong in that perfect place of paradise. Adam and Eve had sinned. They had broken their relationship with God and had gone their own way and they knew it was a terrible mistake. Something that had once given them great joy now sent them running for the trees. Accustomed to walking and talking with God in the garden, Adam and Eve now felt guilt and fear and they hid from God.

Where are you hiding? Are you hiding from God at work? Maybe by working so many hours, you don’t have time to pray or confess to God. Where are you hiding? On a website? In the gym? During sleepless nights? What is it that you don’t want to bring out into the light of day? Secret thoughts or desires…selfish behavior…lack of love toward God. Sadly, like Adam, you and I are often not looking for God―even though he is waiting right there for us!

Note the love and grace of God. “But the Lord God called to the man, ‘Where are you?’” God’s love caused him to seek and to find the sinner who was hiding. In love, God seeks us out too. He invites us to come to him. God sent Jesus to die in our place on the cross and to remove everything that would make us hide. In Jesus, our sins are forever washed away. We are clean. We don’t need to hide. We can come to our Father in heaven and know that in Jesus, we are safe.

Prayer:
Dear Father in heaven, thank you for seeking me out. Thank you for forgiveness in Jesus. Help me to run to you, trusting in your love for me. Amen.