Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
Genesis 3: 8-10
Last week, we noticed that Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating the forbidden fruit and they became aware of their nakedness. Adam responded to God’s presence by saying, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked…” When we resist God’s influence in our lives, we also resist closeness with God, and our relationship with God is
broken. It’s naturally awkward to be around someone you used to have a close relationship with, but something happened, and now the relationship is gone.
We typically avoid that awkwardness by avoiding situations with that person. We do the very same thing with God. We’ve resisted God, damaged our relationship with God, and now feel awkward praying, reading the Bible, or going to church.
Beneath that awkwardness, we are really afraid. We’re afraid that someone will see the brokenness of our lives that we try to hide from everyone around us.
It is possible to heal from this brokenness. Admit that there are broken areas in your life. Confess that you have disobeyed God. Repent by turning away from your sin and turn toward God. Believe that Jesus loves you and forgives you of your sin. Surrender your life to Jesus. Let God repair what you have ruined, and God will restore the relationship that sin destroyed. We have a choice. Because of Jesus, we don’t have to run from God. We can run to Him.
