7 Things - Reasons We Hide From, Or Avoid God's Presence

Adam and Eve heard God’s presence:

Gen. 3:8 And they heard the sound 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 among the trees of the garden.

On this occasion, God’s presence was made known to Adam and Eve as a sound—the sound of Him walking. They must have become familiar with the sound of His footsteps through all the encounters they had with Him. (I wonder what it sounds like to hear God walking.) What a shame that man’s first response to God’s presence in this instance was to hide. Men have been trying to hide from God ever since, but to no avail. He is omnipresent and knows exactly where we are, what we are thinking and all the works of our hands. We should see this as a source of comfort rather than a hindrance—He is a “very present help in trouble” (Ps. 46:1).

7 Reasons we hide from, or avoid God’s presence—

 

•  When we draw near to Him, we find that it is us who must change—not Him. We cannot control or manipulate God. We hate change; so we think that hiding is the easiest option.

•  In the presence of God we only have two choices—obey or disobey. We may be afraid of what God might ask of us. If we are already disobeying the Lord, we may not want to face Him.

•  Spiritual fear causes us to withdraw from the light of His presence. True openness before God is costly and exposing. We are naked and vulnerable when we come before Him.

•  The sight of God involves the sight of self. We are forced to face who/what we are—pretense is no longer an option. If you gaze upon God, you WILL be confronted with your humanity at some point – it is unavoidable.

 • We hide from HIm before He hides from us. Our humanity makes us afraid that the Lord might disappoint us—He might not desire to be present with us. We believe that others experience His presence, but “surely His favor is not upon me.” In other words – we attribute human responses to Him rather than taking Him at His word – that He loves us absolutely, completely, without reservation or pre-conditions.

•  Traditions can sometimes keep us from intimacy with God - that is if we place the traditions above personal faith and relationship with the Father. We hide behind our traditions by holding to the way things have been done for centuries rather than blaze the trail of our own passionate and intimate relationship with Him. Unfortunately, some churches practice “religion” rather than “relationship.” All churches are based on relationship, but that aspect of their beliefs may have dwindled in order to accommodate a “safer” or more publicly acceptable form of Christianity.

•  We may have an incorrect view of who God is and how He communicates with us. Just like the children of Israel in Exodus19–20 we sometimes withdraw from His presence because of fear and misunderstanding.

Draw near to God today - don't let anything keep you from the light and love of 

His presence.

Ps. 84:1-2

How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty.

I long, yes, I faint with longing

to enter the courts of the Lord.

With my whole being, body and soul,

I will shout joyfully to the living God.