"Where are you"....

"Where are you"....

"When they heard the sound of the LORD God walking about in the garden at the breezy time of the day, the man and his wife hid themselves from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. The LORD God then called to the man and asked him: Where are you? He answered, “I heard you in the garden; but I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid.” " ~ Genesis 3: 8-10

   In Genesis God calls out to Adam and asks “ Where are you?”.  Adam is hiding from God because he ate from the Tree that God asked them not to and is ashamed. The sin of Adam and Eve created a space between them and God. When God asks Adam that question I think that today that same question can be asked of us all. Not just as in the physical hiding but also spiritual hiding as well. We hide from God today in both the physical and spiritual aspects of our lives. Some it is more spiritual then physical and others it may be reversed. 

    There are many ways that we can physically hide from God. Before I get into the physical aspect I feel the need to state that I believe there is no place where God is not but it is in our desire to avoid or go to where we feel that He is not or is there. When we decide not to attend mass, we are physically removing or keeping ourselves from a place we know He is spoken about and has a noticeable presence.  It is a way for us to keep our minds and hearts from being with Him. We avoid that physical place because it is a reminder of the relationship we have with Him. Another way we can try and hide from God is  when we avoid those people in our lives that have that connection with God. We avoid them because they are also that physical reminder of God in our life. They may ask us that same question of “where are you” or “where have you been” and it makes us think about what was or what has yet to become that relationship with God. For me I must say that I did avoid some people because they were that reminder of God and I kept that distance and hid from them because of it. The physical aspect of hiding  is almost like the quote “ Out of sight, Out of mind”. When those physical aspects of faith are removed it is easier for us who want to stay hidden from God. We do not attend mass, we do not keep in touch with those people, we take the signs of faith in the home and pack them up, avoid shows or movies that have a message of God, etc..  

    When we avoid the places, the people and the things that physically remind ourselves of God then we are going to places that we feel God is not, we are forming relationships that God is not welcomed, and fill our lives with things that do not remind us of God. It makes it easier for us when we want to hide to have these other avenues and paths to take. We avoid that physical world of God and replace it with a complete secular life. No signs of God, becomes a way of life. I remember having a struggle about putting up the crosses I have collected over the years in my new home. I remember saying out loud to God “ Just because these are up does not mean we have a relationship. I just like the way they look and not the message behind them”. Who was I kidding?  I think it was a way for me to hold onto that physical sign without admitting it.  This happens not only to the ones who lead a life with God but those who never have had God in their life before as well. The world makes it very easy for us to avoid God out there. We have plenty of other avenues to take and paths to explore. We have to work to find the paths and avenues to God in the world, but the avenues and paths to sin are easy to find. Those who never had a relationship with God may not realize that they are also hiding from God. If they do not explore those other paths or avenues, they also are hiding. 

     The spiritual hiding from God is more painful and creates that great divide and keeps our souls from being in the light. Our souls naturally want to seek out and embrace God but when we hide it from the light we are slowing killing our soul. When we turn from prayer and conversations with God, that light starts to dim. We are hiding our souls in the dark and making it harder for our soul to cry out and ask us to refresh and restore itself with the graces and promises of God. We are removing what nourishes our souls. When we do not include prayer in our daily lives we are keeping ourselves from God. We may do that because we know that what we should be praying about, will not be the answers we want. That as long as we do not get that feeling of “NO” from God then what we are doing or about to do is ok. It is the hiding behind the statement of “Ignorance is Bliss”.  Just because you hid your soul from a connection with God and did not pray for an answer, does not make it right. Our souls want to do what is right and just. It is only in our hiding from God in prayer that our souls lack the force to guide us in right judgement. We are turning off that GPS in our souls to God. We are not recharging our souls to help guide us. 

      In spiritual hiding we are placing our souls in jeopardy and also our salvation. Our souls will guide us and lead us to God. It is who we choose to be that our soul will tell in the end. God seeks our souls to speak to and get His messages to us. He will not force it  but up to us to freely accept that connection. We may at times hide ourselves because we feel that we are so far from God and that we are not able to come back to Him. The second we open our souls again to Him and start that conversation and prayer our souls start to search for that path back to Him.  

      God asks us all “ Where are you?” each day. Not because He is unclear where we are but we have to answer Him so we remain connected to Him. He wants to hear “Here I am” so He may show us the graces and paths for us. When we say this we are not hiding from Him but actively renewing our commitment to Him and our Faith. God wants to come to where we are and by also asking that question He is showing His care and concern. If He did not care, He would not ask. 

      There is also another way that question may be interpreted as and that is “ Where are you on your journey to Me?” Are you doing everything to keep that connection flowing? Are you on the right path to Him? Sometimes God may ask this so we take stock in our journey to Him. It should make us stop and make sure things are right in those areas in our lives. 

    It is such a simple question that God asks but it has so many ways we can answer it. We do not have to answer at all if we did not want to. We can remain in hiding from Him if we wanted to. Yet, that question will never stop being asked. Think about answers to the question of  “Where are you?” and answer it. Where are you in your Faith? Where are you in your relationships to God, Jesus, Holy Spirit? Where are you in your both physical and spiritual life? God will always ask you because He loves you and He wants to hear “Here I Am, God”.

Until tomorrow, God Bless, and know where you are and where you are going. He is waiting for you.