COME OUT OF HIDING

• DAY 23
• Fear File: Adam
• Scripture: ‭‭Genesis‬ ‭3‬:‭8‬-‭10‬ ‭NLT‬‬

“When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.””

GENESIS 3:8-10

A part of me wants to use this day as an opportunity to call out Eve, again! But, that’s not my assignment for today. In our text, we read the aftermath of the fruity incident inspired by FOMO from our study yesterday (if you missed it, catch up here). This couple had come to the realization of their actions and just before they had any time to figure out what to do, there comes Abba.

“Adam, where are you?” God said, “we have an appointment every cool of the day, and last I checked you were in my grace. But I look now and I cannot find you. Where are you, Adam?” And like every child who has ever done anything wrong would do, he hid. 

Adam was afraid that the sound of Father meant condemnation. He didn’t want his father to see him in his nakedness. He probably wanted to fix himself first before he could feel worthy to present himself to Abba but God’s voice was not of anger but of concern.

You see, fear can distort your hearing and even your sense of things. You hear condemnation instead of concern. Rejection instead of love. He says “come” but you hear “fix yourself first.” So we tire ourselves out trying to fix what we cannot.

Naked And Afraid

Most of us live on earth as masquerades. We have the most sophisticated ways of hiding our vulnerability and weakness and we call it self-care, self-love or self-preservation, or self-awareness. All the while it is fear. Fear that we will be judged, fear that we will not be accepted. And we are not wrong, society has proven unkind to others who failed before our very eyes. They shoot down the weak and broken with blog posts and comments. Now we have PTSD by association and observation and we are not willing to come out naked. 

“If they find out that I am this, they will walk away. If I tell people I’m struggling they won’t put me on that pedestal. So I have two options, keep it to myself or say it out with the hashtag, don’t judge. Either way, you are afraid.” This fear that Adam exhibited is called guilt and shame.

Shame

Shame has kept many of us in the bondage of sin. The enemy has isolated us, so we never go to our community for support. Meanwhile, it is the community that provides the accountability we need. We also, never go to God for grace. But it is that grace that we so desperately need.

The devil is a liar. Do the opposite of whatever he tells you. If he says hide from God, run to God. If he says don’t be accountable, more than ever, be. Some of us have been burned by the hypocrisy of church folk, I apologize. But I hope the lesson is to provide a safe place for another brother and protect them from what you experienced.

We all fail from time to time, and the next time you do, I hope you hear the love in Abba’s tone and run to Him. I pray that God plants you in a community of believers with whom you can be vulnerable.

I hope you remember that all your guilt and shame ended on the cross

Shalom

Watch today’s video here