The fear of a man and the goodness of God.
I find myself thinking today of the way God is towards us. How He is good beyond our own understanding, and beyond our fears. I don’t know if you who read this have ever known the goodness of God before or not. I don’t know if you have tasted the goodness of God and turned your back on Him.
Maybe you don’t talk with God as you once did, or maybe you have never spoken a word to Him in your life. I simply don’t know. But I do know I have spoken with God. I know He has called out to you through the voice of those who preach.
You see men and women have this habit of running away. How many times have you known you had to do something but tried to get out of it? Because it was uncomfortable for you to do…you tried to pretend that it didn’t exist. We all have done it. We call in sick to work to spend time elsewhere, or we put off those chores that need done to go to the movies. I know I am not the only guilty one here.
Sometimes it’s too hard to come out of hiding and admit I have something I need to get taken care of! We hide instead, not willing to face up to it.
We act this way with God as well you know. “Well, I know I need to get right with God, but I need to get some things under control first.” We tell ourselves. Maybe you have said to yourself, “I just don’t know how to make it right again.” So we hide ourselves from God.
We can pretend He isn’t there, or act as though we will fix ourselves back up when we can and then present ourselves to Jesus. As though we could ever hope to fix ourselves in the first place. But it’s so hard it seems to get down on our knees and admit we need help! We choose to hide because it’s “easier”.
Does this sound like anything you know about?
Well, let me tell you we are not the first to deal with this habit. I am going to compare us to someone in the bible I think you all know. His name was Adam. In genesis (the very first book of the bible) we find the picture of a man with the same problem.
I want you to imagine yourself in his position. You’re in the Garden of Eden. All is well. The lion is cuddling up to the lamb ready for a nap. The vines are growing these basket ball size grapes. When boom…you make a huge mistake! You just ate the wrong fruit.
Guilt rushes into your mind as you and your mate try desperately to cover yourselves up. Knowing your naked is one thing, but now…here comes God! You’re standing there naked and ashamed. You just did something He told you not to do. The guilt is written all over your face as you hear the voice of God calling to you.
His voice is pleasant as always. The two of you had talked many times before around this same time. God has been your friend. But now you have done something He told you would cause you to die! You betrayed God Himself!
What would you feel like doing?
Well let’s look at what Adam did. Chapter 3 verse 8 of genesis. “And they heard the sound 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 among the trees of the garden.”
This is where it all begins people. Adam hid from God because he couldn’t face up to what was happening. He thought “If I hide here and cover myself up before He sees me…then he won’t know and I can pretend everything is fine.”
Now you know he lost it here…because he knew God was not one you could hide from. You know Adam’s next though had to be “OH NO!!! HE JUST HEARD WHAT I WAS THINKING!!!”
How many times have you had to come to the realization that what you are running away from is still going to be there when you run out of breath? When you get back from the movies that laundry is still going to need cleaning you know?
As far as Adam goes…no matter how long he hides, he is still going to suffer the consequences of his actions. No matter how many leaves he sowed together, he is still going to be naked underneath.
No matter how many things you get together, you’re still not going to be good enough to stand next to God. Because we are all still naked under our “fig leaves” called good works and attitudes.
So here God comes calling “Adam, where are you?” Adam…your not in the place you normally are with me. You’re not running to me like you used to. Where did you go? Why are you hiding from me?
You know, like Adam knew, there is no hiding from God. God already knew where he was. He already knew Adam had chosen to do what God said not to do. God was simply asking why are you not coming to me with this sin. Why are you turning from me?
He knew Adam was afraid. God had every right to send lightning down and destroy Adam then and there. But He didn’t. He simply came to the garden as He did before, looking to spend time with His friend Adam. He came with compassion asking Adam to come to Him and not hide in fear. Asking Adam to come and face the facts.
In verse 10 Adam comes out from the trees and says here I am. “I hide myself from you because I was naked.” He still tried to hide the real truth. Until God asked Him “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree I told you not to?”
God already knew where Adam was and why He was afraid. But instead of swift judgment, He said “Adam, tell me what happened.” God is merciful. He did not hunt Adam down to kill him. He let Adam come to Him so that God could show mercy.
Today God does this with us. We all have hidden at one point or another. We try to avoid the reality that we need to come to God. But the truth is God is waiting on us not to judge us, but to rescue us. Not because we have done anything to be worth rescue, but because He loves us even in our darkest moments.
He clothed Adam in verse 21. Then in John 3:16 He paid the price Himself for Adam. So that Adam would not die, but live forever. Sure the body would die…but it would only mean freedom to those God had redeemed. God had mercy when Adam came to Him as He was. God has mercy today for us to come as we are.
What would have happened had Adam stayed behind the trees when God called? Adam would have remained naked. He would have lost the friendship God Himself offered. Worse yet…Adam would have died cold, naked, and alone. He would have been eternally separated from God because he did not face God as he was.
What will you do? Is there something causing you to hide from God? Are you pretending you can get those fig leaves sown together and then be ok? Maybe you have spent time with God before, but you’re not in the normal place where God meets you. Is God calling and asking “Where art thou?”
Come to God. Face the truth now. Give God this time to talk with. Admit where you are and let God do the fixing. All you have to do is show up before Him as you are. Don’t waste your days without looking to God.
I encourage you today to examine yourself. Are you thinking your “fig leaves” of good works and attitudes are going to cloth you when you stand before God after the death of the body? Do you care more about what you can do in the garden of life than you do about answering the call of God?
God is calling. “Where art thou?” Will you come today?
