Where Are You?

Have you ever tried to reach someone desperately and then when you get hold of them say “Where are you?” rather than “How are you?”. I have done this so many times especially when I get hold of my husband after ringing him numerous times when he was probably locked away in a meeting. The “where are you” expressed here is a sense of deep longing and loss of not having contact. This is exactly the phrase and longing that God expressed when He could not find Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden just after they had sinned.
Genesis 3:8-9
⁸ Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

Everyday right up to the fall, God enjoyed close fellowship with Adam and Eve by going for walks together and talking heart to heart. After the fall, Adam and Eve felt shame, hid from God and avoided contact with God. It broke God’s heart and He came looking for Adam and Eve longing for their company. It is the same today. God is longing for you and asking “Where are you?”! Isn’t that just awesome?! The God of the universe wants to talk to us! It just blows my mind! We should spend time with the Lord daily. Fellowship and communion with God was one of the privileges of man before the fall. Jesus Christ gave His life for us so that our fellowship with God could be restored.
1 John 1:3
³ We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.

Often times when we don’t spend time with the Lord, when we don’t read His word or pray or want to fellowship with other people, it is because we want to hide from Him. Perhaps we have been convicted of our own sinful attitude or action but we are reluctant to face up to it. Or we know that the path we have chosen is wrong but don’t want to hear from God. We want to do things our own way and we harden our heart and hide from the One who loves us and longs for us. We need to realise that the longer we take to come back into fellowship with God, the enemy can use it to his advantage and play havoc with our lives and this can put us on a path to destruction.

It is important that we come back to God, confess our failures contritely and be restored back into relationship with Him. We need to settle it once for all that God is for us and He is always good. His thoughts, plans and purposes for us are for our benefit. David realised this in his life. David sinned, he fell short many times. However when he realised the error of his ways, he came back to God with a contrite heart and asked God to restore his relationship back with Him.
Psalm 51:10-12
¹⁰ Create in me a pure heart, O God,
    and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
¹¹ Do not cast me from your presence
    or take your Holy Spirit from me.
¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation
    and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Our God is patient with us, long suffering and is so forgiving. He does not deal with us as we deserve. Our shame and guilt has been already dealt with because of what Christ has accomplished for us on the cross. So we can come boldly before God and know that we are forgiven and accepted. We are now adopted as His children and heirs to God! It cannot get anymore amazing than that!
Romans 8:1-2
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
Galatians 4:4-7
But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.

God is still crying out for us every day, saying “Where are you, my child?” Don’t spurn His love for you. Don’t be out of step with Him. You can make a fresh start today by turning back towards Him! He wants to put fresh wind in your sails today so that you can live gloriously. Make a decision to spend time with the Lord daily. God longs for you! Christ gave His life to adopt you as His child. Don’t make Him ask “Where are you?” all over again. Enjoy your communion with the One who created you and loves you the most!