Where Are You?

By my husband, Mark Cameron

     Genesis 3:6-10, "When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it.  She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.  Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.  Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord among the trees of the garden.  But the Lord God called to the man, "Where are you?"  He answered, 'I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."
     When God created man, His intention was to have a relationship of love.  For there to be love, however, there must be freedom.  Love is not love when there is no choice, God created man with the ability and freedom to choose.
     In the third chapter of Genessis, in the cool of the day, God walked in the garden seeking man.  This is the God of the Bible...seeking man!
     The question that God poses in scripture is found here:  "Where are you?"  Now understand this question is an informal one.  Being the omniscient God, He had no need to inquire as to where Adam and Eve were.  It was asked for the sake of Adam and Eve.  It was to probe their hearts and to prick their consciences.  "Where are you?"  is a probing question.  It is the first question that God asks individuals when He wants to get their attention.  This question reveals much about God and much about man.
     God did not ask, "Why have you done this?"  The why question is so fascinating to humans.  Talk show hosts and therapists alike seek to discover the answer to the why questioon.  Yet even if we understand the motives, for our choices, that knowledge alone does not set us free.  Freedom begins with acknowedgement or confession and repentance... not deeper insight!
     God did not walk into the garden and explode and say, "How dare you!"  He did not storm away from Adam and eve and separate Himself from them.  Yes, His Holiness was offended by their sin... Yes His heart was broken by their choice.  But His love constrained Him to pursue man.  man moved away, but God pursued him.
     What does God's question tell us about Him?  It tells us that God is our friend.  It tells us, He is for us, and not against us.  It tells us that despite our sins, He has not withdrawn form us.  He still loves us and wants to have a relationship with us.  He has revealed the basis of this friendship, Trust.  God is simply looking for our trust.
     Here's a little secret, God knows the worst about you!  He knows every detail and while He is grieved, He is not shocked.
     But in every question, we also see that God has a forgiving nature.  No matter what we do, God wants our relationship with Him to be restored and to continue on.  He is not reluctant to forgive.
     Now let's look at how we respond to God's question.  This first question, "Where are you?"  is a hard one for all for us.  Through it God is calling us to come out of hiding, to trust Him.  Adams response to God is interesting to look at.  He came out of the bushes and told God that he was ashamed of what he had done.  Then he immediately tried to hide, again.  This time in self defense and blame shifting, he pointed to Eve as the real culprit.  This is so much like us.  We run from self disclosure and ownership of our sin.
     Usually, honestly finally comes as our defense mechanisms are stripped away by the Holy Spirit, one layer at a time.  It is an important turning point for us when by the Holy Spirit, we come to realize that we are selfish people, and without God's grace, we would act entirely out of our own self interest.
     Even as the light of God's word and the Holy Spirit expose these things in our lives, some of us still want to delay our response to God's call.  We say, "Sometime in the future, I'll come out and meet you, God, but first I want to keep doing what I'm doing."  Why are we so afraid that God wants to take all the enjoyment out of life?  Why do we picture God as some sort of cosmic killjoy?  So many feel that jesus came to make us good... and boring!  Nothing could be further from the truth.
     Then finally, some simply ignore God's question.  We continue our hiding perhaps we do not think we need God, that we are just fine without Him.  But we fool ourselves if we think that life will not sooner or later confront us with issues that are bigger than we are.
     There are places we like to hide from God.  Our hiding places take different shapes and forms.  Some of us hide in our business.  Our lives are so filled with things and activities that we can ignore God's call.  Some hide in pleasure, trying to counteract the pain with good times.  And many try to numb their pain with drugs and alcohol.  And I dare say, that a favorite place for so many, so called, good people is in Church.  The bushes we hide behind are pews, the committees, the classrooms, and even the pulpit.  We are well camouflaged... or so we think.  Yet in our quiet moments we hear the Father call out... "Where are you?"
     The right response to the Fathers call is to step out of the bushes.  Admit you have been hiding.  Come face to face with your Father.  He is in front of your bush.  He knows you are in there.  Come on out today.  Be made whole... And walk with the father!