One of my favorite things to do when I
went to the department stores with my mom as a little girl was to hide in the
hanging clothes racks. The best racks
were the ones in a circle that left a great middle space to stand in. Inside it was like my secret place where no
one could see me, not even the customers checking the rack I was in. It was also my hiding place from my mom.
Now, I could be incredibly quiet when I
hid; undetectable noises only, so it was near impossible for anyone to find me
unless I wanted them to. Mom used to get
so angry when I’d hide in the stores because she couldn’t find me, and I’m not
sure, but I probably didn’t come out until threatened. {I can still hide and not be found :) } Of course, as a mom myself, I’m
sure I worried my mom quite often.
Now, in the case of Adam and Eve, we know
full well that God knew exactly where they hid themselves in the garden since
He is omniscient (all knowing*). That
means He can see everything, hear everything, and knows everything, even the
intents of our hearts! (1Chr. 28:9) So
the question becomes, why didn’t God just walk up to where they were hiding,
say ‘I can see you behind that ____, so you can come out now’ or better yet
(like I would do) quietly appear behind them and shout ‘BOO!’?
And they heard the sound of Jehovah God walking up
and down in the garden at the breeze of the day. And the man and his wife hid
themselves from the face of Jehovah God in the middle of the trees of the
garden. And Jehovah God called to the man and said to him, Where are you?
Gen. 3:8,9 LITV
 |
| He'll gladly hear our anger even if at Him |
The first
option my mom took to find me was walk up and down the aisles looking for my
feet under the racks, listening for movement and hoping I’d come out. (These next parts are my opinions on why God
acted as He did, but only He really knows.)
I think God was giving Adam and Eve the opportunity to come out on their
own and tell Him what happened (even if He already knew). As parents, we sometimes know the bad actions
our kids have done, but we wait for them to come to us to confess instead of
confronting them. So God was wanting His
children to come out and talk to Him.
When His
walking back and forth didn’t get their willing attention, He called to Adam as
my mom probably did me, “Vicky, Vicky, where are you?” Adam finally answered God, and I can almost
hear His sigh, “Oh, Adam, if you only understood…” See, we can’t hide from God. We can try, but it will NEVER work. Unlike those great hiding places I found but
was never found in, there are NO hiding places from God.
Jehovah looks down
from Heaven; He beholds all the sons of mankind. Ps. 33:13
For he looks to the
ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens. Job 28:24
Neither is there
any creature that is not manifest in His sight, but all things are naked and opened to the eyes of Him with whom
we have to do. Heb. 4:13 (also Ps.
139:7-10)
Why do we try
and conceal our sins, our flaws, our negative thoughts, our failings, our ‘bad’
emotions, and all our other negative actions AND thoughts from the God who
knows everything? All our hiding only
results in a fractured relationship with Him.
In order to be restored, we need to willingly run to God with open arms
and ‘jump onto His lap’ telling Him all that’s in our hearts- good and bad. God is big enough to take it! Only then can we have an open and honest
relationship with our Father, and only then will the chains that keep us in
bondage be broken off.
Jesus said,
…He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to proclaim deliverance to the captives…
Lk.4:18
*1Sm. 2:3; Job 37:16; Ps.
139:7-10; Ps. 147:5; Is. 55:9; 1Cr. 2:10;
1Jh. 3:20