“The Lord God called to the man, ‘Where are you?’” Genesis 3:9 NIV
“God asks questions that you and I should be asking ourselves and answering honestly.”
My thoughts today are about “God’s questions.”
A question has importance when it results in useful information. A person’s question may be out of curiosity occasionally, but questions are normally asked because someone lacks, but desires, certain information. Questions! Everyone has them, even God apparently. At the very beginning of man’s history, “The Lord God called to the man, ‘Where are you?’” Genesis 3:9 NIV. Our history began with a man and woman hiding themselves from each other, and from God. Not much has changed.
Reading the Bible, you find God frequently asked people questions. Jesus asked haunting questions: “What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” Mark 8:36-37 NKJV. Have you considered that a question is usually asked when a person lacks knowledge or understanding, yet God asks questions though all things are fully known to Him?
Theologians describe God’s attributes as omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience, the latter of which is “a perfect knowledge of all things.” The Bible describes His ability as “declaring the end from the beginning.” See Isaiah 46:9-10 NIV. That being true, why would God ask Adam, “Where are you?”
An everyday example would be when a teacher asks a class a question. It is not because the teacher is uncertain of the answer, but exactly because they want their students to have the right answers. God asks the questions that you and I should be asking ourselves and answering honestly and correctly. God asks questions not because He is uncertain of the answer; He wants to make sure you know the answer, and your answer is the right one. Your soul and well-being may depend on that.
God came seeking the fellowship of His creation, as He always had; Adam’s disobedience caused him to hide from his Creator, as He never before did. See Genesis 3:6-12 NIV. That scenario remains unchanged. In that Garden, when Adam heard God’s voice and hid himself in fear and shame from God, Adam should have been asking himself, “Where am I? Why am I hiding? What have I done that makes me ashamed?” Didn’t God know Adam was hiding from Him, as well as where to find him? Of course, He did! God is the same today; unfortunately, so are we. God will faithfully come for you, but you have to truthfully come to Him. “If you are living in the light of God’s presence . . then . . the blood of Jesus cleanses you from every sin . . if you confess your sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive you and to cleanse you from every wrong.” Read 1 John 1:7-10 NLT. That is unchanging truth!
Are you hiding from God today? Why? Does the truth seem painful to face; do you fear God would not understand? Do you hide something from God that puts distance between your heart and His love? You can’t bury your sins deep enough, or ignore your negligence long enough to silence the gentle voice of the Holy Spirit in your heart, asking, “Where are you?” Until you find yourself, you are afraid to let God find you. Until you come clean with God, you really are lost, needlessly separated from the love of God and others, from true forgiveness, from real freedom.
My prayer for you today is that you will never need to hide your heart from God.