
8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the 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 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” ~ Genesis 3:8-9
Most of you may be familiar with the story of the Fall found in Genesis chapter three, and if you are not I encourage you to read it and become familiar with it because this is where all the mess began for us. This devotional will just cover one small aspect of the fall, the question of, “Where are you?”. What an interesting question. Either God didn’t know where Adam and Eve were, or He was asking that question for their sake and not His. I’ve heard it said, when God asks a question it isn’t because He’s lacking information, rather it’s to reveal something for our own good. In this case it wasn’t because God couldn’t find Adam rather He wanted to reveal to Adam that he was in sin, and because he was in sin he should’ve been seeking God instead of hiding from HIm. I’ve come to notice that knowing where we are, directly correlates to how pleased God is in our response to certain circumstances. If Adam knew where he was he would’ve responded appropriately by seeking Him but instead he compounded his mistake by hiding.
In life we are all constantly moving, and knowing where we are in our journey is paramount to making decisions that pleases God. Another example of this is found in the story of the children of Israel in the book of Exodus. In one situation they cried out to the LORD and it was the right thing to do at that moment in their journey and He therefore compassionately remembers them (Ex 2:23, 24). However, in another situation, they cried out to the LORD and it wasn’t the right thing to do at that moment in their journey and He tells them to stop crying and move forward (Ex 14:15). Here we see the same response of crying in two different situations. In one situation it was the right response in the other it wasn’t, the difference was the situation they were in. There are many more examples of this but the point is, it depended on where they were that determined whether how they responded was pleasing to God or not. In our own lives, we will be faced with hard and life changing decisions. Before we make any of these types of decisions it’s a good idea to pray, seek the advice of other, but also to be aware of where you are. Where are you? Should you be seeking or hiding? Should you be crying or moving forward? The correct response to these questions depends on where you are. With all that said, our life’s journey isn’t simply to make the right decision and live a good life, but to learn to hear the voice of our Lord Jesus and follow Him. The where are you question, isn’t something we just ask ourselves but the answer to that question is something we must learn to hear from God.
Most of you may be familiar with the story of the Fall found in Genesis chapter three, and if you are not I encourage you to read it and become familiar with it because this is where all the mess began for us. This devotional will just cover one small aspect of the fall, the question of, “Where are you?”. What an interesting question. Either God didn’t know where Adam and Eve were, or He was asking that question for their sake and not His. I’ve heard it said, when God asks a question it isn’t because He’s lacking information, rather it’s to reveal something for our own good. In this case it wasn’t because God couldn’t find Adam rather He wanted to reveal to Adam that he was in sin, and because he was in sin he should’ve been seeking God instead of hiding from HIm. I’ve come to notice that knowing where we are, directly correlates to how pleased God is in our response to certain circumstances. If Adam knew where he was he would’ve responded appropriately by seeking Him but instead he compounded his mistake by hiding.
In life we are all constantly moving, and knowing where we are in our journey is paramount to making decisions that pleases God. Another example of this is found in the story of the children of Israel in the book of Exodus. In one situation they cried out to the LORD and it was the right thing to do at that moment in their journey and He therefore compassionately remembers them (Ex 2:23, 24). However, in another situation, they cried out to the LORD and it wasn’t the right thing to do at that moment in their journey and He tells them to stop crying and move forward (Ex 14:15). Here we see the same response of crying in two different situations. In one situation it was the right response in the other it wasn’t, the difference was the situation they were in. There are many more examples of this but the point is, it depended on where they were that determined whether how they responded was pleasing to God or not. In our own lives, we will be faced with hard and life changing decisions. Before we make any of these types of decisions it’s a good idea to pray, seek the advice of other, but also to be aware of where you are. Where are you? Should you be seeking or hiding? Should you be crying or moving forward? The correct response to these questions depends on where you are. With all that said, our life’s journey isn’t simply to make the right decision and live a good life, but to learn to hear the voice of our Lord Jesus and follow Him. The where are you question, isn’t something we just ask ourselves but the answer to that question is something we must learn to hear from God.