When God Comes Walking

Have you ever waited and waited for someone to show up? I remember as a child, being so excited at company coming that I ran to the window every few minutes, pulled back the curtain, looked both ways and then sat back down with a disappointed sigh, only to jump back up and repeat the process, stirred by even the slightest sound outside. I am still very much that way. I love, I mean really love, having company. I make all the preparations in advance and then I watch . . . and watch . . . and watch. I can hardly wait to spend time with the people I love.
I can't imagine ever seeing them pull into the driveway and then running into the bedroom to hide. I can't imagine holding my breath, trying to calm the dog, and doing everything in my power to remain unseen. I want to spend time with them and hiding would only come into play if it were a surprise party.
Now, imagine hiding when God comes to visit. Imagine hearing God come walking by and running to hide. Imagine sitting as quietly as you can, slowing your breathing and willing your heart to pound less loudly. Imagine your legs beginning to cramp from sitting so still and silently enduring the pain, refusing to move, for fear of being discovered. Can you imagine that? From God?
Genesis 3 tells us that Eve was deceived by Satan and disobeyed God. Adam followed suit. In their new found awareness, they discovered they were naked and so they made coverings out of fig leaves. Then verse 8 says "Then 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." Wow! They tried to hide from God! They tried to hide from God in the garden He created from nothing. They tried to hide from God in HIS GARDEN!!! The text goes on to tell us that God called them and they came out of hiding. I can almost picture the scene.
They hear the footsteps of the Father, Adam grabs the hand of his wife and practically drags her into the thicket. He is grateful to be clothed with leaves, hoping it will camoflauge their presence. "Where are you ?" God calls as He looks at the very bushes where they are hiding. I can almost feel their discomfort as they feel His eyes looking right at them. They keep their eyes closed and tremble. For a fleeting second, they run through possible outcome scenarios, could they run? If they don't move and don't respond will He move on? Could they play dead? Finally, with a recognition of who God is, they step out from the bushes, heads hanging low, eyes focused on the ground, clutching at each other's hands.
What would make someone even try to hide from God? Only one thing, sin! I think we do this more often than we care to admit. We sin and we, "in our newfound awareness", decide to try and cover it up. Our fig leaf of choice is usually a lie. We attempt to cover up our sins by lying, hoping no one can see through it. We do a pretty good job convincing those around us that we did not sin, that it was not a very big sin, or that we had no choice. Then we hear the footsteps of God. Then we hear God come walking and we panic. We avoid church, hiding among other sinful people, hoping we will be sufficiently camoflauged. We try to remain inactive, hoping to not draw any attention to ourselves, we do nothing, willing the small voice in our conscience to whisper, with the sound of a guilty heart beating loudly in our ears. But, then we hear, "Where are you?" and like Adam and Eve, we are afraid, we know we are caught. All the options run through our minds. We cannot play dead, because our God can raise the dead. We cannot run, because our God is everywhere, we cannot hide because our God sees everything. We swallow deeply and we stand, we come forward, tears streaming down our face, falling on our knees and we stammer-----"I . . . I disobeyed and I . . . I was afraid, I am so sorry."
The scenario has played out very much like the scene in the garden but the ending is different.
We are not cast out, we are not punished. Instead, God reaches out His hands to us, (you know the ones with the nail holes). He welcomes us home and He throws a party. We are amazed, we are humbled, we are in awe that He still loves us and we vow to never run and hide again. We vow that we will be ready . . . next time God comes walking.

Peace
Neva