"Where You Are"

"And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden".  Genesis 3:8

When God asked Adam where he was, it wasn't because He didn't know.  Neither was He asking Adam where he was physically.  God knew exactly where Adam was hiding and why he was hiding.  He wanted Adam to "come clean".  He wanted Adam to "own up" to it.  He wanted Adam to confess what he had done. 

Instead of running to God when he sinned, he ran and hid from Him.  Isn't that just like us.  We try to hide from God.  We run from Him when we should be running to Him.  We let fear-- fear of what He will do or say keep us away from Him. 

We don't need to hide from the Lord when we make a mistake, sin, disobey or fail.  We need to run to Him.  Often we hide or draw away from Him because we don't want to face the "punishment" for what we did, just like when we were children.  I was afraid to face my parents when I did wrong.  I was afraid of what they might do.  I later learned that in some cases the punishment wasn't as bad as I had imagined it would be.  Also, I realized that the punishment, or chastisement, was a sign of their love for me. 

We don't need to run and hide from the Lord either for the same reasons:  the punishment may not be what we were expecting, we will discover that He loves us because of His chastisement, and we will discover that He has an answer and provision for what we have done.      

When Adam acknowledged what he had done, God had his solution and answer waiting for him.  Adam was hiding in shame because he was naked-- exposed before God.  God had the solution-- He made clothes out of animal hides to cover him. 

The point, in a nutshell, is-- don't run and hide from God when you "mess up".  He already knows what you did, and where you are.  Come clean with Him-- confess it.  He has your solution.  And you will see His love manifested to you.

Have a great day.  The Lord knows where you are and what you did-- so don't run and hide.