Hide and Seek

Genesis 3:9 – Then the Lord God called to the man, “where are you?”

In the story of the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve disobey God and partake of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  Immediately, we are told, they realize that they are naked (3:7).  In short order, Adam and Eve hear the Lord walking in the garden and they hide themselves (3:8).  It is at this point that God ask Adam, “Where are you?”

This is a question that has always intrigued me.  It is not as if the All-Knowing God lost Adam.  He knew exactly where Adam was.  If you play a game of hide and seek with God, you lose.  I really think this question was not one of inquiry, but rather a question of reflection.  God wanted Adam to consider where he, himself, had gone spiritually.  Why had he come to this point that he was hiding from God?  What was it that he had done, not only in disobedience, but to his relationship with God?

This account causes me to wonder, “How often do I hide from God?”  It is not as if He doesn’t know when we sin.  God sees where we are better than we do.  God knows what is going on in our heart with more clarity than we ever will.  Maybe we would serve ourselves well to ask ourselves the question, before God does, “Where am I?”  The answer to that question might be difficult at first, but in the long run it is the very question that will lead to our freedom.