But the LORD God called out:
“Where are you?”
Genesis 3:9
— After Adam & Eve sinned in the garden their first reaction was to hide…because their spirits’ died and they realized their sin & unrighteousness. They felt the gravity and reality of death: something they had never felt or experienced before—they knew nothing would ever be the same. Shame, guilt, & regret plagued them. So they hid.
But what they thought they could hide—God knew. And as they huddled, dreading the thought of being found, God calls out “Where are you?” — not because He couldn’t find them, but because He wanted Adam and Eve to know that He was pursuing them. He wasn’t going to leave them. Their sin now separated them from Him and they forfeited being able to enjoy unhindered fellowship with God, but He hadn’t forsaken them.
Do you know that feeling of wanting to be alone, wanting to hide because the weight of condemnation and sin is too heavy — wanting to just disappear because you’re thinking: “If they only knew.” You’re scared they won’t accept you or will look at you differently. We’ve all been there. Feeling like we’d rather hide than step into the light and be known…
But you know the freedom that comes when someone calls out: “Where are you?” — God’s voice to Adam and Eve in the garden must’ve brought dread to their hearts and yet I imagine His voice also brought a sense of relief and amazement to their hearts. The fact that God — who is all-knowing — was calling out for them. He was still pursuing. He knew and that didn’t stop Him.
They hid & God called out.
That’s the whole narrative of the Bible; God’s unrelenting pursuit of sinful and rebellious man and He never-ending desire to save us and restore fellowship. That’s the gospel:
When I was without hope, destined to live a life dead in my sin: ashamed, condemned and hiding — God called.
When I thought my world had ended and I had ruined any chance of redemption. When I believed I was too far gone and God could never forgive me… — God called
He called with a voice of love, forgiveness, grace and mercy: “Where are you?” A voice that told me: “I see you. I know where you are and where you’ve been and I’m here. Let Me lead you out of this place and give you life where there’s been death and light where there’s been darkness.”
His voice is never one of condemnation.
We must come out of hiding &
stop believing that He has given up on us.Because we can never hide from His love.
"But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by His grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach Him ..." - Galatians 1:15-16a
" What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since He did not spare even His own Son but gave Him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for His own? No one — for God Himself has given us right standing with Himself. Who then will condemn us? No one — for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and He is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.
Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean He no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? . . . No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow — not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below — indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. "
- Romans 8:31-39 (NLT)
