Genesis 3:7-9
“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 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. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
My kids are 16 months apart which means that they spend most of their time as best friends or arch-enemies, and sometimes both at once, which is both creative and befuddling. Like most kids, they enjoy a good game of Hide-and-seek. When they were young they were terrifically bad at this game and it was always entertaining. They were terrible hiders. And pretty poor in the seeking department, too. First of all, they’d always look in their respective favorite hiding places first, which sometimes meant giving them away if they were being observed. When hiding, they took a certain silly pride in their selection and the longer they were successful in their subterfuge, the more likely they would give themselves away with an outburst of giggles. At that point, the game would always devolve into mass hysteria.
Hiding is an interesting thing. It’s always a response, a reaction. Sure, we may slip away for some quiet time or head out for a solitary walk, but it isn’t hiding unless, or until, there’s something to hide from. Or someone. Looking into our scripture today, when that Someone is the eternal, the omniscient, the creator of all including you and that thing that you’re hiding behind and the one you’re hiding with, it’s not really hiding to anyone… except you.
After all, this is God we are talking about. Hiding isn’t possible. He spoke the garden into existence and crafted them Himself. What artist doesn’t know where every detail is and the story about how it got there? He knew the garden as well as He knew them. I might suggest that He even knew the trees those fig leaves were taken from. I also suggest that He wasn’t looking for them at all. He knew right where they were. Or we have to re-think a few things about God. So what is happening when the One who knows everything asks a question like this?
He’s acknowledging their hiding. There’s compassion. Something has happened. Something has dis-integrated, and this is God seeking to restore it. “Where are you?” is a move toward them. There’s no cute countdown and this particular episode is not going to end in giggles. Yet when we hide, paralyzed in fear or shame, creation hiding behind creation, God moves towards us. He always will.
Reflect:
On the verses. On the scenes in your life where your only option was to hide. On the moments you were found.
Journal:
What have you hidden behind? What have you woven together to try and protect yourself? To defend yourself? What does God see?
Pray:
A prayer of humility for anything you might be hiding now.
A prayer of honesty and mercy to meet with Him.
A prayer of gratitude and grace for whatever comes next.