When You Realize You've Been Hiding from God

A lot of Christians keep praying and attending while quietly keeping God away from what matters. Discover why God's first question in the garden was "Where are you," and how answering it is the way back.A lot of Christians go through stretches of avoiding God without ever calling it that. You are still praying and still in your seat on Sunday, and God is still being kept away from the part of your life that matters right now. Maybe there is something you have been doing that you would rather not hear from Him about, so you keep the conversation shallow. Maybe you are let down by something He allowed, and you have been keeping your distance without admitting that is what you are doing. This comes up often in a pastor's office. People say they have not missed a Sunday in months, and then admit they have not told God anything that mattered in just as long.This episode opens with Ray LaBatte, who was 15 the night he stood on a bridge in Lomira, Wisconsin, and told God he was finished with Him. His father was an alcoholic who had been through 9 rehabs, and the family had come apart. After a woman in a grocery store line said the town would be ruined if they kept letting families like his move in, Ray walked out to the bridge on Church Street and asked the only question he had left: "If you're really God, why did this happen?" Nothing came back. He walked away from God and stayed angry for the next 15 years.This pattern is old. It is the first thing that went wrong between people and God, and it happened in a garden. Genesis 3:8-10 describes Adam and his wife hearing the LORD God walking in the garden and hiding among the trees, and then God calling out, "Where are you?" Adam answered that he heard God walking, so he hid, because he was afraid.Notice what God asked first. He already knew the answer; the question was for Adam's sake, a way to get him talking. And notice who moved. Adam hid, and God walked into that garden and called for him anyway. The hiding is ours. The searching is His.God still asks that question. It surfaces during a worship song you were not planning to feel, or when someone prays for you and it gets past your guard. The way back is to answer Him plainly: here I am, God, and here is what I have been hiding. You do not have to fix anything first. Adam answered from behind a tree with nothing to offer but the truth about where he was, and God took it from there.BY THE TIME YOU FINISH LISTENING, YOU'LL DISCOVER:How believers hide from God while keeping every outward habit intactWhat God's first question in Genesis 3 reveals about how He treats people who are avoiding HimA simple way to answer that question today, even if it has been a long timeThe hiding is ours and the searching is His. The way back starts with four words: here I am, God.Share This Episode:https://www.dailydevotionsforbusylives.com/288Need Prayer? Leave me a voicemail:https://www.dailydevotionsforbusylives.com/voicemailWant to keep these devotions coming? Please consider supporting this podcast.https://www.dailydevotionsforbusylives.com/support/Rate and Reviewhttps://www.dailydevotionsforbusylives.com/reviews/new/Connect with BartFacebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/dailydevotionsforbusylivesWebsite: https://www.dailydevotionsforbusylives.comFeeling spiritually drained? Start here. Download your free copy of my eBook Making Time for Jesus here: https://www.dailydevotionsforbusylives.com/subscribe.