Where Are You?
“Let us occupy ourselves entirely in knowing God. The more we know Him, the more we will desire to know Him. As love increases with knowledge, the more we know God, the more we will truly love Him. We will learn to love Him equally in times of distress or in times of great joy.”
Brother Lawrence
There is no greater joy than to know Christ
I don’t know about you, but I am so tired of feeling down and out. I am tired of having to go to war with myself just to get up in the morning. I am tired of believing all the lies from the devil and his demons that constantly run through my mind day in and day out. And frankly, I am just tired of myself. I am so far gone that I don’t feel like even God can help me. Is He even real? Why does he feel so far away? If He is near, why is He not helping me? Does any of this sound familiar to you? If so, please keep on reading. We may not like to admit it, but unless you are a “super saint,” I believe that has been all of us at some point or another in our times of tribulation. But we definitely were not the first ones to feel this way. Just like Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, in times of trial, we feel naked and ashamed, so lost and vulnerable. But yet, in a gentle yet omnipotent voice, we hear in the shadows.
“Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” Genesis 3:10-11 (NIV).
Of course, God knew very well where Adam was and why he was naked. God didn’t ask for information; He asked for confirmation. And to some of us who are caught up in our own trials, troubles, and tribulation, I believe He is asking us that same question today. “Where are you? Who told you that you were naked?” So, as we will see in the chapters to come, God didn’t walk away from us. We originally walked away from Him. But we will find that even though we did so, not only does God love us with an everlasting love, but He also says,
“For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.” 2 Corinthians 11:2.
We will also find that although we may “feel” He is not with us, we can know for certain that He is. And I am not just talking about knowing intellectually in our minds, but rather letting this ultimate truth drive deep down in our hearts so much so that we know that we know He is with us, and He promises He will never leave us or forsake us. As mentioned in a previous chapter, in Hebrew, the word for “know” is Yada. Yada indicates a combination of close, warm, and even passionate intimacy. It can also combine head knowledge with that intimacy to produce an edge in a person’s life. This edge enables a person to trust God and perceive what He is doing.
That is the kind of knowing we are so desperately yearning for and so desperately need. As we start this journey together, I want you to imagine God walking in the cool of the day with you and asking you that same question he asked Adam. A question that not only snaps us back to reality but far more importantly into the arms of The One who loves you so much so that He made the first, the last, and the ultimate move to reach you! Then, you will be able to answer that question with full conviction, knowing that we have a God who not only says He is with you but “wants” and “is” with you to eternity and beyond. So “where are you and who said that you were naked?”
As I close this chapter, I’d like to share a quote from the great, late theologian J.I. Packer. “Knowing God is a relationship calculated to thrill a man’s heart.” “To know that nothing happens in God’s world apart from God’s will may frighten the godless, but it stabilizes the saints.” “Your faith will not fail while God sustains it; you are not strong enough to fall away while God is resolved to hold you.” I want us to “Yada” God so much that we know who we are, we know where we’ve been, and we know where we are going. But most importantly, we know the One who is more than enough. We already know a lot about God. But I beseech you to come with me on this journey to truly “know” (Yada) God and enter the joy of Jesus! Let us begin with a Psalm and prayer of King David. As we begin to go back to the garden,
“Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. Relieve the troubles of my heart and free me from my anguish. Look on my affliction and my distress and take away all my sins. See how numerous are my enemies and how fiercely they hate me! Guard my life and rescue me; do not let me be put to shame, for I take refuge in you. May integrity and uprightness protect me because my hope, LORD, is in you. Deliver me, O God, from all my troubles! Psalm 25:16-22 NIV (emphasis added).