“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.” Genesis 3:8
Sometimes we get backslidden: we stop seeking the Lord as we should. We stop wanting to be around Him. We stop wanting to read God’s love letter to us – our Bible. We stop wanting to be taught about Him and worship Him – at church. We stop wanting to dwell in His presence throughout the day – through worshipful music. We stop wanting to talk to Him at all – in prayer. If we let ourselves go too far for too long, we will find ourselves wanting to hide from God. Have you ever met a Christian that was once on fire for the Lord, and then you learn they are now living in a manner opposite of living for Christ? Some would say they are running from the Lord. Doing everything possible to not think about Him. Attempting to avoid His presence entirely.
It’s sad when we learn of someone who was once a bright light shining for the Lord and then walked away from everything they believed. Those decisions don’t happen overnight. People don’t wake up one morning on a new side of the bed and decide they no longer believe in God’s sovereignty and goodness. They don’t get disillusioned with God’s omnipotence and love while they were asleep and wake up with a new set of beliefs. It happens one decision at a time.
Genesis 3:8 tells a story of Adam and Eve making a decision that led to them trying to hide from the presence of God. “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.” The irony being that there is no hiding from God. There is no word, action, or thought that He does not know.
When we find ourselves acting like Adam and Eve, wanting to hide from the presence of God, it is a good indicator that a choice we made was not Christ honoring or pleasing. We all make mistakes in life; we all have moments that we would say were not our finest. The key to not becoming the person who is running full speed away from God, trying to escape His presence is to recognize when the result of a decision puts us in that mental space. If we are not looking forward to reading our Bible the next morning and spending time with our Savior. If we are not eager to turn on worshipful music and bask in His love. If we are uncomfortable praying and having conversations with our Heavenly Father. Then we are experiencing a moment of being backslidden – no longer able to stand in front of our God with a clean conscience. The quicker we recognize that we are withdrawing from the presence of God, the quicker we can address the issue that brought us to that point. Failing to repent for whatever action we took that caused us to shy away from the Lord will result in being the person who allows themselves to slowly retreat farther and farther away from the Lord until they are so far gone, they become the story. Let’s choose to honestly assess ourselves when we find we aren’t eager to enjoy the presence of our Lord and address our sin with Him immediately. When we find ourselves wanting to hide from the presence of God, let’s choose to humbly go to Him, repenting for the sin that caused the breach of fellowship and seeking reconciliation with Him.
