Come Out of Hiding

[00:00:09] Well, hey, friends, welcome back to another edition of the Weekday Podcast. All week long, we've been around this theme of when we try to earn our way into God's presence and how that's just a dead end. So if you've missed any of the episodes, I'd encourage you to go to weekdaypodcast.com and pick up on it. But today is talking about coming out of hiding. [00:00:26] Romans 8. 7 says, for the mind set on the flesh is. And here's a strong word, it's hostile towards God. For it does not subject itself to the law of God. It is not even able to do so. There's a moment in the garden I haven't been able to stop thinking about. In Genesis 3, Adam had sinned. And he felt it immediately. That rush of shame, that awareness that something had broken. Before that moment, he'd never once felt the need to hide. He walked with God in the cool of the day. He was known fully and. And it was okay. But the moment that sin came in, everything changed. He grabbed some fig leaves, he covered himself, and he pulled back from the one that he'd been closest to. [00:01:03] When God walks into the garden and he asks a question that he already knows the answer to, he says, adam, where are you? God wasn't lost. Adam was. And I think God was asking that same question ever since that moment. Not to shame us, but to call us back. [00:01:20] Here's what I've come to believe. Hiding is the thing that keeps us more stuck than almost anything else. Not even the sin itself, the hiding. Because as long as you're managing it, containing it, keeping it underground, you're stuck in a cycle. And the cycle will keep you exactly where you are forever. Now, maybe you've made the same commitment more than once. The same altar, different year, same prayer. Maybe with more tears this time, because this time you really mean it. And you did mean it. You meant it. Every single time. But here's the problem. If you walk away with the new commitment and the same power source, which is just you, you're going to end up right back in the same place. And this time with the added weight of shame, asking, why does this never stick for me? [00:02:02] That shame is what sends us me backwards, right? It's what sends us underground. You pull back from God because you don't feel worthy to come back. You pull back from the people around you because you don't want anyone to know. And you end up living two versions of yourself. The one you show the world and the real one underneath. And here's what I need you to hear today. You will never get closer to God than your hiding will allow you. God already knows what's underneath the fig leaf. He's not waiting for you to get cleaner up before you come to him. He's asking, Adam, where are you? Why? Because he wants you back in the room. So the encouragement is to come out of hiding. Because when you come out of hiding, that's where healing begins. You will never get closer to God than your hiding allows. Have a great day. We'll see you back here soon.