*GOD SEARCHESFOR HIDING PEOPLE*
`If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, Even there your hand will lead me, and your right hand will hold me. Psalms 139:9-10`
OUR LOVING GOD, said Jesus, is like a shepherd who can’t stop searching for one lamb leaving the ninety-nine he already has. We keep on hiding, but he can’t seem to stop seeking.
We cover up our faults and flaws and fears, then wonder why we feel so abandoned and alone.“Wanting to hide. Needing to be sought. Confused about being found”. The Bible says,“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?’ He said,‘I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.’”
When God enters the garden he asks a question: “Adam, where are you?”Why should God ask that question? Is the omniscient oneconfused? Is God really at a loss as to Adam’s where abouts? This is one of the most remarkable questions in Scripture. God is allowing Adam to hide from him. God grants to his creatures the freedom to be known or to be unknown by him. God covers his eyes. But there’s more to it than that. God doesn’t just allow Adam to hide. God comes searching for him. God takes the initiative to restore their closeness, even though Adam is the one withholding himself.
This is our story. We hide because we don’t want to be exposed in our fallenness, our darkness. We hide because we are afraid if the truth about us is known, we will never be loved. We hide from other people. We hide from God. We hide and evade, but God is the one who seeks—unhurrying, unperturbed, refusing to stop—the sound of heaven.
Your brother in Christ,
Apostle Ashok Martin