“At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves. 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 (Adam) replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.””

Genesis 3:7-10 NLT

Life with a puppy is never dull! It seems like Luxie is always finding trouble! And our little girl knows right where to go to hide from us when she knows she has done something wrong.

We often find ourselves doing the same thing. It may not be hiding under the bed, or sewing fig leaves together, but we wander away and hide from God. Maybe it’s because we don’t want to admit the choices we made were wrong and we’re not ready to confront and confess it. Perhaps we feel that what we’ve done marks us off the forgiveness list and makes us feel undeserving or unworthy of God’s grace. Or possibly we just don’t know that God is waiting with open arms to clothe us with His love and to cover us with His blood.

Our guilt, our shame, and our eagerness to hide are only distractions to kill, steal and destroy us. Our assurance of forgiveness, our freedom of grace, and our relationship with God are gifts that the enemy loves to manipulate. It is he who exploits our sins and compels us to cover it up. He knows that in our nakedness we are vulnerable, and in our vulnerability, we are more likely to be influenced by his lies. So he takes our wrongdoings and runs with it!

But, if you don’t hear anything else my friends, hear this….there is nothing you have done so bad that Jesus will not forgive you for! Just as our intentions for Luxie are not to harm her, but to love her, to keep her safe, and teach her what’s best for her, so God’s intentions for you are the same. He wants to love you deeper, to keep you safe, and to train you to be the best you that you can be. Most of all, He wants you to experience the freedom of His Grace. He wants you to no longer be afraid – naked and exposed to the lies of the enemy – but to feel safe under the blanket of His love. He is the only one who can free us from the weight of our sins and bring us peace – now and forever.

We are human though so we will always make choices that don’t align with the righteousness of God. But when we try to hide what we’ve done, we are only hiding it from the One who can make things right.

Are you hiding in disgrace, or are you living in His grace? He wants you to open your eyes and find Him. Not so he can shame or punish you, but so He can love you and share His favor with you. Are you ready to answer his call?

#SaturdaySoulSearch