Have you ever been scared? So scared that you couldn’t find your voice? I have! Many years ago, when I was a child, I got lost in the woods near our house in New Jersey. I didn’t have enough sense to stay close to home. We lived in a remote area with a good amount of undeveloped land surrounding it. The area was mountainous enough to have ski resorts not far from where we lived. But the wooded area behind our home wasn’t an unending wilderness full of monsters as I thought then. It was just a small patch of woods that wasn’t as scary as my 8-year-old mind remembers.
I loved exploring those woods. When I was out adventuring with my older sister and younger brother, I would put on a brave face. I was the default “leader” in wilderness exploration. I loved exploring. And I spent hours climbing trees and looking for whatever strange and wonderful treasures I could find. Once, on such a trek near our home, my sister and I stumbled on a very old, unkempt cemetery. The dates on the headstones were from more than a century ago. Some of the coffins were peeking out of the soil—we made a quick retreat home.
Stay close
Mom and Dad knew that I loved exploring and daily warned me to “stay close” to home.
I did not listen one day when my sister, little brother, and I went wandering in the woods. Some time passed, and we found ourselves circling the same set of trees. At that point, my sister questioned me, “Lea, you don’t know where we are, do you?” I replied angrily, “Of course I know where we are. I’m always out here.” After putting on a brave face for quite some time, I conceded defeat. I couldn’t deny her accusations any longer and began to worry.
Tears stung the backs of my eyes as I admitted, “We’re lost! No one will find us! We will die out here!” I had mental pictures of those coffins sticking out of the ground opening to swallow us. My sister and I began crying out for our dad in earnest, “Dad! Dad!” My little brother was too young to understand why we were so upset. He busied himself with carrying as many sticks as he could. Sticks were his obsession at the time. Then, after a few minutes of calling out, we heard a very familiar voice in the distance, “Where are you?” Dad had come! He swiftly gathered our brother in his arms and led us home at the “angry Dad” pace that children everywhere understood.
Where are you?
This story came back to me this morning as I read in Genesis the account of Adam and Eve’s sin. God had finished creating the world. And the culmination of His creation was forming man and woman to fellowship with Him in the garden. God never spent time chatting with the elephants, lions, or opossums in the garden. His desire in creation was to be with Adam and Eve, to create a family, and to be a Father.
One day, as was His custom, God came to the garden. He had gone to be with Adam and Eve, who had hidden themselves. God knew where they were, but they didn’t know where they were. It is for this reason that He called out to them in Genesis 3:9 NLT “Where are you?” Adam and Eve’s sin opened their eyes to the consequences of their choice. They were ashamed to face their Father because they had disobeyed. Their solution? To hide among the trees, in the woods.
He will come
Life has a way of pulling us out into the woods, into places that aren’t clear or familiar to us. The situations and temptations of life easily grab our attention. And, before we know it, we find ourselves lost and calling out to God for help. And when we call for Him, He will come. No matter what drew us away, He comes back, ready to carry us home in His arms.
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