Genesis 3:8-9 (ESV)

“And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, ‘where are you?’”

This passage holds an exciting truth when we focus on God’s actions. Unfortunately, the consequence of Adam and Eve’s failure becomes the “main event” that masks the real story in this passage.

While walking in the cool breeze of the late afternoon after Adam and Eve sinned together, God calls out, “Where are you?” We may think that God is playing some sort of hide-and-seek with Adam and Eve or that He doesn’t actually know where they have gone.

These notions miss God’s intention. God didn’t call out to Adam and Eve to play a crude joke on them nor was He trying to find them behind the many Garden trees. After all, God created Adam and Eve in love and kindness and the world they sought to hide in. The real reason He calls is that God was on the chase. Notice the movement in the story: 1) God walking and 2) Adam and Eve hiding.

Have you ever seen a child hiding from a parent in a respective parental boundary? The parent knows all the nooks and crannies the child can possibly utilize. Yet, the child still believes a secure hiding spot is available. That is what is going on here. God knows Adam and Eve failed. He doesn’t leave Adam and Eve alone in their sin and watch from a distance nor does he crush them for their failure. Instead, God’s first action after the failure of Adam and Eve was to pursue them.

Do you believe God will crush you for your failure? If you do, you are believing a lie. God’s first action wasn’t to destroy Adam and Eve, but to call out to find them.  All they had to do was turn around.

This week, take some time to recognize that God is pursuing you. Are you hiding from Him? The blood Jesus shed on the cross in your place proves God’s pursuit for us. Will you believe in His redemptive plan? If so, all you need to do is turn around.