Where Are You?

“And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?” Genesis 3:8-9

Every day God had a set time when he came down to the Garden and spent some time with Adam and Eve. No doubt they looked forward to this every day, a chance to communicate with their Creator and tell Him about what they had done that day.  I imagine they showed Him what new flowers and animals they had discovered that day and how much they were enjoying all the beautiful things that He had created.  It was a time of refreshing and renewing and something they waited for each day.

But, on this day, they had hidden themselves away, because they knew that God was going to be displeased with them.  They had been disobedient and eaten of the tree He had told them was not one they should partake of.  God knew what they had done, and He knew exactly where they were.  He missed them and their time of communicating, and in love He called out to them.

In I Kings 19, we find the prophet Elijah after the great victory over the prophets of Baal, fleeing for his life from Jezebel.  He was in a cave feeling discouraged and ready to die.  It was then that he heard the voice of the Lord calling out to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah.”

There may be times in our lives when we feel we have failed God.  Because of feelings of guilt, we may neglect our daily time of prayer and communication with the Lord.  Or maybe we just get too busy with the cares of life and keep putting off spending our normal quiet time reading our Bible and praying.  It is then that we hear the voice of the Lord saying, “Where are you?  I miss our time together.”

God misses us when we don’t show up at our daily place and time.  Communicating with Him is so important and He knows how much we need that. His still small voice calls out to us, “where are you?”  May we always be alert for that voice and be quick to get back to our daily communication with the Lord.

Prayer:  Lord Jesus, I need that daily time and place where I meet with you.  Help me to be every mindful of that need, and not let anything keep me from it.  When I fail, remind me, and help me to listen for your voice.

Devotion by Anne Johnston