Hiding From God
Adam was naked before he chose to eat of the forbidden tree, but he didn’t have any of the feelings of guilt or shame associated with his nakedness until he ate of the tree. In fact, only a few verses earlier it says, “they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.” (Genesis 2:25) Instantly things changed; Adam and Eve sought to cover themselves and hide from God.
It’s a pretty ridiculous idea to try to hide from God, but God seemed to play along with this little game of hide-and-seek and called out to Adam, “Where are you?” God plainly knew where Adam was, but he wanted to hear Adam’s response and confession.
Isn’t it interesting how we can often find ourselves in the same predicament as our ancient forefather and mother? We do something that we know is wrong and then we distance ourselves from God thinking He just won’t find us. “Where are you?” he whispers as we seek to do anything to cover our guilt and shame before Him.
The one thing that keeps us from running to God is the same thing that made Adam hide in the bushes – fear. We fear what God might do, say or think of our naked condition so we run and hide ourselves, sometimes indulging in even greater sin, hoping that He won’t find us or at least will leave us alone for a while.
God desires his children to come after Him at all times, maybe even more so after we have sinned. It is only by coming back to our Father that we can find reconciliation with Him through the atoning sacrifice of His Son Jesus. We’re often tricked to think that it’s safer to hide and not fess up or that God will be mad at us if He finds out what we’ve done. It’s just not easy to be naked, or should we say vulnerable and transparent, before God.
Christian Growth Network
