They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze,
and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
But the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?”
In my child imagination the Garden of Eden described in this Genesis story of creation was always quite small. I always thought to myself, “why do they even bother hiding from God? God can see them and knows exactly where they are.” But the two humans in this story don’t hide from God because they don’t think God can’t find them. And surely they don’t think God will just give up or forget about them like my sister used to do when we played hide and seek as kids. Can you imagine God saying, “you know, I could have sworn I created a couple of humans… they must be around here somewhere.”
No, these two human beings, the woman and the man hid from God because they afraid, embarassed and ashamed. They had been created in God’s image and yet they had fallen short. They had been given everything and yet yearned for more. Sound familiar?
Do you ever find yourself hiding from God? Well, forget about it. From the begining of time God has searched us out and called us my name. “Where are you?” God says, over and over again, until we remember that we cannot hide from God, no matter how hurt or tired or terrified God will accompany us on this journey of life. There are times God will enter into the darkness of our quiet caves and sit with us until the light shines in through the cracks. Other times God may push and prod and gently tug at us, moving us towards wholenss and reconciliation. But in all times and places God will not cease to find us, even in our best hiding places.
May you remember to stop and
hand over your life to that which is bigger than you,
May you remember that God will not give up the search,
God will find you and love you and call you home.
And may your worry, your feelings of guilt or shame
be overwhelmed with the power of God’s love.
AMEN
(470)