October 13

Hide and Seek

 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”  ––Genesis 3:8-9

One of the best parts of childhood were those unplanned days where the stars seemed to align: It was summer (so no school), all your friends were around (again, no school), and everyone in the neighborhood was up for a game of hide and seek. On those hot July days darkness wouldn’t arrive until about 9pm, and we could stay out as long as the street lights hadn’t come on yet. As we got older we lost interest in hide and seek, though. Childhood games were replaced with sports and other more “sophisticated” activities.

Genesis means origin or beginning, of course, and the first book of the Bible is filled with firsts—including the first game of hide and seek. Adam and Eve ate the apple from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, realized their error and the serpent’s deception, and for the first time experienced shame. What happens next is kind of ridiculous: Adam and Even tried to hide from God—the omniscient Creator of the universe. At first, God plays along in this first-ever game of hide and seek, and asks, “Where are you?”

Why would an all-knowing, all-seeing God ask a question to which he already knows the answer? Of course, because he wasn’t asking the question for Himself. We have a series of infamous and tragic firsts: the first sin, the first act of human rebellion, the first time man experiences guilt and shame, and the first time man tries to hide from God. In one sense, we are all Adam hiding in the back of the forest in the cool of the day. Even though we no longer need to hide, we do. The Second Adam overcame the sins of the First Adam, yet like the First Adam, we run from God when we feel shame and guilt.

Man of God, no matter how deep you’ve fallen, or how sinful you’ve been, this is what God is whispering to you today: “Where are you, my beloved son?” The prophet Zephaniah says,

The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.  ––Zephaniah 3:17, ESV

We hide and God seeks. We run in shame and God offers us a full pardon. When we turn toward Him, He’s there, waiting. And like Adam, rather than cursing us when we fall, He clothes us and restores us. Jesus closed the distance and healed the rift, allowing us to once again walk with God in the cool of the afternoon. There’s absolutely no shame in that!

Father, I’ve spent a lot of my life running and hiding when You have been waiting right here. Like any loving dad, You love me and cherish our relationship. Thank You for the indescribable and miraculous gift of fellowship.