Daily Encouragement: Year 2, Day 68

From Handbook to God’s Promises

GOD SEEKS AFTER ME

Hide and Seek
Read Genesis 3:8–9

Everyone has experienced the cycle of sin and shame. It’s a dreadful situation, something like being in a box canyon with three sides going straight up. We enter by way of acknowledged sin, and we don’t dare to look for a way out for fear that we’re undeserving (and we are). And if we hear the sound of someone passing by, we’re too ashamed to call out for help. We are sure that no one could want to help us (not true, but that’s what we imagine). And so we hide in our canyon of shame.

There is only one way out of our shame, but we often can’t see it. The way out is to simply admit to what we have done and confess it to God so that we may receive His abundant forgiveness. And yet we are usually too ashamed to lift up our eyes, much less our voice, to Him.

So what does God do to get us to speak? He seeks us out. In our moment of need, when we are hiding from Him, He comes looking for us—and He speaks first. Without our even knowing it, He changes our confession to a conversation.

God did this first with Adam and Eve. In the perfect Garden of Eden, the first couple sinned. Hearing God approaching in the garden, they ran and hid themselves among the trees. Did God see them? Yes. Did He know what they had done? Of course. By rhetorically calling out “Where are you?” God drew Adam out of his hiding place. Seeing God’s patience, Adam released himself from shame by confessing his sin to God.

Is your identity today “Ashamed”? It need not be. Know that God is walking in your garden seeking a conversation that will lead to confession and freedom. If you lift your eyes, you will see Him. If you lift your voice, He will hear you. He seeks you for only two reasons: to find you and set you free.

God’s Promise: When you hide, He will seek you out and offer you forgiveness, if you confess your sin to Him.