HomeWord - June 9, 2010

The Searcher 

This devotional was written by Mike DeVries

In the Scripture passage above, God's question strikes me as odd.

Is God truly at a loss to find the man and his wife? Is He walking in the garden thinking, "Now where are they? They hid so well. I hate it when they do this!" Is this what is going on, or is there something so much larger being said here?

The opening chapters of the book of Genesis poetically paint for us the picture of how the world we know came into being and why that world is the way it is. In other words, in the midst of the words and the drama, it answers the larger questions of life:  Why are we here? Why is life the way it is?

Genesis 3 tells the story of a choice. God tells the first humans that they can eat of any tree in the garden, except of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In essence, God asks:  Do you want to live the way I created you to live, fully alive and fully connected to your Creator? Or, do you want to live the way that you feel is best?

What we find is that the first humans chose to live the way they wanted to live, and the ramifications were immense. Their relationship with their Creator was damaged. Their relationship with one another and creation was damaged. When they heard the sound of God in the garden, they did the first thing that came to mind - they hid.

Does it really work to hide from God? Can we really find places to hide where God is not, or where God cannot see the state of our lives? Have we really fooled God?

God calls out to the man, "Where are you?" This is not so much a statement about God's inability to find the man, but is more about the nature of who God is. God is a lover… and a searcher. God is about searching for that which needs to be healed and mended. This is the picture that is being painted for the reader.

So next time you feel the urge to hide, thinking that God will never find you, remember that our lives are already completely laid bare before the eyes of Him who loves and searches us out. He loves you just the way you are… just as you are.

GOING DEEPER:

1. Are there areas in your life where you have been hiding from God?
2. Spend a few moments coming out from hiding to be reconnected to your Creator.

Sign up here for Parenting Resources and other HomeWord publications.