Where Are You?

Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?”

Genesis 3:9

I’m sure you know the story!  God had placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden which He had created. He clearly told them they could eat from every tree in the Garden — except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  He told them that they would die if they ate of that tree.  In spite of that clear warning, Eve listened to the temptation of the serpent, and ate the fruit of that tree.  She offered it to Adam and he also ate.

            As I read this passage, several thoughts stood out to me.  After Adam and Eve disobeyed God, they attempted to cover their nakedness with leaves they sewed together for themselves.  They heard God walking in the garden and they tried to hide because they were afraid.  Then God called Adam and asked, “Where are you?”  Adam answered, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.”  When God questioned Adam about eating from the tree He had commanded him not to eat, Adam essentially blamed God: “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.”  When the Lord questioned Eve, she blamed the serpent who deceived her. 

            Adam and Eve attempted to cover themselves after they had disobeyed God.  How do I attempt to “cover” myself when I have disobeyed God?  What excuses do I offer?  Do I think that my “good works” can cover my sin?  Do I blame others for needs that haven’t been met?  Or maybe my parents for the way they raised me?  Do I hear God asking me, “Where are you?”

Of course, there is nothing God doesn’t already know about us.  Psalm 139:1-4 tells us:

You have searched me and known me, You know when I sit down and when I rise up.  You understand my thought from afar.  You scrutinize my path and my lying down, and are intimately acquainted with all my ways.  Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O Lord, You know it all.

So why would God ask, “Where are you?”  I believe He wants us to evaluate where we are in our relationship with Him and acknowledge where we are spiritually.  Is there unconfessed sin?  We can invite Him as the psalmist did in the closing verses of Psalm 139: 

Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.

And it is important that we know there is absolutely nothing we can do to cover our own sins.  The covering that Adam and Eve sewed for themselves was not sufficient.  The Lord “made garments of

skin and clothed them” (Genesis 3:21).  God’s provision required the death of an animal to provide that covering.  God’s covering for our sin required the death of Jesus, and His blood is the only cleansing for us.  I love Isaiah 61:10 which assures us that “God wraps us in His robe of righteousness.”  That is the only covering for our sin that assures us of eternal life with Him.  Thank you, Lord, for providing for me what I could never do for myself!

PERSONAL REFLECTION

Take some time to consider God’s question “Where are you?”

Is there any way you are trying to hide from Him?

Is there any way that you are trying to make coverings for yourself when you have disobeyed God?

God invites us to confess our sins and be cleansed from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).  Thank Him for that promise of cleansing and forgiveness through Jesus’ blood shed for our sins.

Think about what it means to be wrapped in His robe of righteousness. Write a prayer to God responding to what He is saying to you.