Genesis 3:8-10 New American Standard Bible 1995
8 They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the [a]cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 He said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.”
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
“Where are you?”
God asks Adam as he quietly strolls through the garden as if he is automatically expecting to encounter the eagerness of Adam, the sight of Adam seeing Him.
But, something is off, the automatic encounter does not seem to be automatic.
What are we to make of this happenstance, the absence of this automatic sight?
The absence of this “naturally” automatic encounter between man and God?
Perhaps these questions are not much about where Adam and Eve are hiding?
Perhaps something significantly bigger than that is happening here?
Please consider …
Genesis 1 and 2 give the glorious account of our creative God busy creating everything—including us human beings.
Then Genesis 3 tells of Adam and Eve’s disobedience, their fall into sin, which now infects all of us.
The fruit looked delicious and desirable, but all it revealed was that they were naked. They tried to hide from God in their shame, making simple garments of fig leaves. Where were they? To answer God’s question, they were both lost and they did not even have the awareness to know it and less awareness to act on it.
God’s footsteps echoed in the garden, and his voice boomed, “Where are you?” God knew, they did not know it – God knew they needed to know they were lost.
God began to quietly enlighten them …
“Who told you that you were naked?”
God asked.
Not roared lest the undefinable power of his anger rips them limb from limb. (Psalm 29:1-9)
The Voice of the Lord in the Storm.
A Psalm of David.
29 Ascribe to the Lord, O [a]sons of the mighty,
Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory [b]due to His name;
Worship the Lord in [c]holy array.
3 The voice of the Lord is upon the waters;
The God of glory thunders,
The Lord is over [d]many waters.
4 The voice of the Lord is powerful,
The voice of the Lord is majestic.
5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
Yes, the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.
6 He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,
And Sirion like a young wild ox.
7 The voice of the Lord hews out [e]flames of fire.
8 The voice of the Lord [f]shakes the wilderness;
The Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
9 The voice of the Lord makes the deer to calve
And strips the forests bare;
And in His temple everything says, “Glory!”
Like naïve naughty children, they automatically tried to use the blame game.
“The woman you put here gave me the fruit,” whimpered Adam.
“The serpent (you made) fooled me,” Eve whined.
Today in such moments and our circumstances God still asks, “Where are you?”
Today, in such moments and our circumstances, God is yet looking and he is always in our immediate neighborhood, always very close by, still strolling.
I heard it when I was in my hospital room, looking at the digital clock on the wall counting down the seconds and the minutes until my open heart surgery.
My heart was in desperate need of the kind of repair only my surgeons could give me, there was no place to hide, any running could give me a heart attack.
I was out of options, had no control over my life, lost, vulnerable, and scared.
I picked up my phone and went to my bible app and started at the beginning.
God strolled into my garden where my very life hung in the balance, where as I was reading Genesis 3 that one haunting question suddenly turned comforting.
He was not out to get me into chastising me but to remind me the promise that he’d provided a Savior, his Son. “Stay where you are. I’ve sent my Son for you!”
In that life or death moment, in the indescribable magnitude of my uncertainty, God strolled in unannounced through His Holy Scriptures and God assured me.
Psalm 29:10-11 New American Standard Bible 1995
10 The Lord sat as King at the flood;
Yes, the Lord sits as King forever.
11 [a]The Lord will give strength to His people;
[b]The Lord will bless His people with peace.
Do you know this God, do we know this timeless and immutable truth from the Word of God, spoken from the mouth of God, who always desires to be with us?
Psalm 29:1-2 New American Standard Bible 1995
The Voice of the Lord in the Storm.
A Psalm of David.
29 Ascribe to the Lord, O [a]sons of the mighty,
Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory [b]due to His name;
Worship the Lord in [c]holy array.
Do we ever so “naturally” automatically turn to the Word of God to hear Him speak to us, to so automatically glorify his immediate proximity to our lives?
Blessedly Assured, Reassured, Standing in Plain Sight on the Promises of God?
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Psalm 23 Authorized (King James) Version
Psalm 23
A Psalm of David.
1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul:
he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;
thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 