Hiding

“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 in the garden.” Genesis 3:8

In the passage of Genesis that addresses the fall, we see Adam flee. In Sunday school you may have giggled at this, “did they really think they could hide from God?” And we move on in our studies and lives, possibly unaffected.

However, when we read this passage with the weight that it truly holds, we’ll see ourselves in it.

We’ve all been there. Sin is a part of the human condition and the ultimate reason we all need a savior.

Ephesians 2:5 “even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—“

Or

Romans 5:8 “ but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Our great hope and gratitude lies squarely on the shoulders of a perfect savior, who’s overwhelming love has saved a wretch like me, like you.

So why do we hide?

First, you might be saying “I don’t hide. I’m sinner, saved by grace. What’s to hide?” And though I wholeheartedly agree, I believe we are called to be more honest with ourselves about our sins, intentions and confessions.

Here’s an example of hiding that may be more relatable than literally hiding from God in the garden:

“She deserved it,” I thought to myself, feeling the conviction welling up inside of me. “She does this to others. She’s hurt me. She’s hurt so many people.” I shoved the emotions of guilt deep down and sat in my own prideful justification for gossiping about her. “Maybe she wont like the taste of her own medicine.”And as I sat in this cold, hard, ugly thought process, refusing to listen to the conviction of the spirit, the devils work was being done. My heart was a little more hardened to the truth and to the grace that saved me in the first place.

This is a glimpse into a moment from my life. A dark period that lasted too long. It’s an ugly truth that I have had to look square in the face. Hiding from God, not behind a fig leaf or a closet door, but behind my pride. It’s painfully easy to fall into, arrogant pride, and yet, He still loves us. He still pursues us. But we may harden ourselves enough to be unaffected by the Spirits leading.

Romans 2 addresses God’s judgement and our unrighteous judgement. The whole passage, heck, he whole book is worth reading, but here’s a verse that addresses the condition of hardened hearts:

Romans 2:5 says: “But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the say of wrath when God’s righteous judgement will be revealed.”

Also read: Proverbs 16, Proverbs 18, Proverbs 8:13, Philippians 2:3,

Oof. It hits you in the gut, doesn’t it? Does this mean that because we have closed our ears to God’s conviction before, that we’re heading straight for hell? The short answer is, no. There’s grace that we can rest in. 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Praise God for that! We can still choose to turn from our sin and run straight back to the one who saves. But what does this take? Honesty and humility.

For example, my husband and I have been working through marital struggles(the ones where you get a few years in and need to re-evaluate how to operate with one another). We have had to be really honest, laying everything out on the table. Allowing the other person to say “this is how you’ve hurt me,” and not meeting them with contempt or defensiveness. We have also had to own our own toxic contributions to our relationship. We are taking apart the structure of our marriage brick by brick, evaluating what went wrong, and rebuilding it upon a repaired foundation. That’s hard work but humbling, important work if we want to remain married.

Another example is when we go through the process of deconstruction and reconstruction of faith(note: I am aware that this term triggers people, you can substitute whatever word you want in place of deconstruction, but I use it because it fits well) . We must go through demo. Part of demo for me(and many others) is realizing the things that we’ve said and done that have harmed people around us. Digging up memories that we shove into the back of our mind, deep in the “not to be evaluated” or “too shameful to look at” categories. The moments that we’ve said and done things that were cruel or maybe even with ill intentions in our heart, things that can be denied or defended biblically, but we know were wrong because we feel the conviction deep inside. We know our intentions matter(the sermon on the mount teaches us this well). It’s hard work to admit those things and important if we want to have a heart softened to truth and being effective for the kingdom.

This process is called humility. The dictionary definition of humility is as follows; a modest or low view of ones own importance; humbleness. The Bible discusses humility in great length.

Philippians 2:3-4 “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more important than yourselves. Let each of you not only look to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

This passage goes on to describe how Jesus, God reincarnate, chose to live a humble life, even up to death on a cross. Jesus’ whole life was an example of humility; God taking on the form of man, arriving in the lowliest of births, allowing his life to be one of little financial means and of great sacrifice of time, emotional support and the outpouring of love to those who were social outcasts.

So we know that humility is what we’re called to through scripture and by Jesus himself providing the ultimate example; Matthew 11:29 “Take my yolk upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest.” There is rest in humility. There is rest in Jesus.

How do we live humility in our lives practically? We must start with honesty.

It’s trading shame and arrogant pride for humility and confidence in Gods affirmation of who we are despite our sin. It’s our willingness to lovingly submit to the spirit and continually reconcile with people around us, which is an important part of the commands given to love one another and maintain unity in the body. What’s a practical example of this?

In 1 Timothy Paul is writing to Timothy a letter of encouragement and instruction. In chapter 3 he addresses the “Qualifications of Overseers” such as pastors, elders and deacons.

1 Timothy 3:2 “Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach…”

Above reproach sounds impossible to achieve in an earthly body, doesn’t it? By dictionary definition it means: such that no criticism can be made; perfect.

How could God call His leaders(and really all of us who have been called to discipleship) to lead a life above reproach when we’re still sinful? Seems impossible. However, He doesn’t give us commands that we cannot live out. To be above reproach as a Christian looks like choosing to interact with respect and humility and when you’ve wronged someone, to go to them and with sincerity, apologize and reconcile. That when someone comes to us with a problem, we don’t immediately act in defensiveness but meet them with a sincere apology and genuine effort for betterment, whatever that looks like in that situation.

Note for the paragraph above: *this is in reference to healthy relationships. This will not work in abusive/toxic relationships and we must gain wisdom to determine the difference between difficult relationships and toxic ones. I give this warning so that our fellow believers in unhealthy situations do not feel an obligations to remain in them based on what they read from me*

If this seems like hard work, it’s because it is. We live in a fallen world, and although saved, we still work in imperfect bodies. This isn’t an easy thing. It pokes the places of our hearts that are ashamed. It takes mental effort. However, it is a worthy effort, to learn to listen to the conviction of the Holy Spirit, to continue being in compliance with the process of sanctification. This faith is not like our consumeristic culture of convenience. It is one that will take hard work and will present us with the opportunity to do things that our flesh would otherwise reject. It doesn’t feel good at first to admit wrong and choose humility. It feels vulnerable and we cringe in discomfort at our own impurities. Yet, it is the most safe place to be. In the arms of Jesus, admitting our sins, being forgiven and forgiving.

I want to leave you with this today:

You were made by a God who cherishes your soul. He pursues you! It’s great news. Now we must respond to the call on our hearts and step in obedience toward Him. We must soften to the conviction of the Holy Spirit. We must be able to humble ourselves to our brothers and sisters.

We’ll work on this together until we go home.