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| Where are you? |
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Back in Genesis, I love it when God asks Adam "where are you?". Like He doesn't know where Adam is, right? Of course He does, and the point of Him asking isn't for His own sake or information, it's for Adam's.
"Where are you, Adam?", God asks. What He's really doing is allowing Adam the opportunity to look around, take stock of his surroundings in the spiritual sense, assess where he's at, admit to any sin that he can see now that he's looked around, and repent. This is a loving God who asks this question, giving Adam a chance to see things clearly, confess and move on. What does Adam do? The same thing we usually do. Rationalize. (Believing the lies of the serpent because it sounded plausible.) Blame someone else. ("Eve made me do it.") Cover it up. ("Let's sew these fig leaves together and hide our nakedness.") How does God respond? With love and discipline. He lets them know what the consequences of their disobedience will be, but He Himself also makes them better garments out of animal skin. Then He takes them out of the garden and away from the tree of life so that they don't eat from that and live forever. Why? I think this is another demonstration of His love. Now that they had eaten from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they were destined to live a life of sin. God, in His mercy, didn't want them to live forever striving against that sin, so He numbered their days, as it were.
"Where are you, Jen?" This is the question He asks of me as well. "I am here, God, dealing with ridiculous, sinful impatience at life circumstances and Your timetable for doing things and slow, elderly drivers. I am here, walking in confidence one moment and running scared the next. I am here, Lord, gaining insight into who You are and losing clarity of vision as to where You said we are going. I am here, giving wise, Biblical advice to a friend and then not taking it myself. I am here, hungry for more of You, loving the freedom that comes when I give You control of my life, still holding onto way too much stuff way too tightly and controlling those parts of my life myself. I am here, still thinking the fig leaf is hiding something from You. Thanks for asking, God. Thank you for loving me enough to get me to stop and take notice of where I'm at and then helping me get back on track."
"Where are YOU?" |
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| To add a comment to "Where are you?" |
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| October 07, 2007 |
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Jen, Yes this is to cool, God has a way of giving the saints the information they need i guess you and i are on the same page, and i'm glad we know were we are Now! Thanks for sharing it!
I wonder how many people will be blessed having read the point of view by two different people with the same title. |
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| October 07, 2007 |
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Jen, wow, good word. This is the kind of excellence I've come to expect from you! I often hear God asking me that, usually right after I've asked, "Lord, where are you?" (Kind of like a "I'm right here of course, where are you!")
~mike |
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| October 07, 2007 |
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| "I am here, hungry for more of You, loving the freedom that comes when I give You control of my life, " Yet two minutes later I've become impatient and find myself desparately trying to take control. |
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| October 07, 2007 |
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Keith - I enjoyed reading your perspective on this, looking at the same Scripture as me but with a slightly different emphasis. That just goes to show you the Bible is a living word, doesn't it? Mike - Thanks for the high praise, brother! Such a loving God to take time to ask His children where they are, don't ya think?! Dave - Dude, I can be so impatient! Sometimes I think I must make God nuts with my "let's get going and let's do it now!" attitude. I know I make myself nuts! :-)
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| December 19, 2007 |
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Hey Jen, as many times as you have moved, maybe God was being literal when he said "Where are you?"
Kidding, of course!
This is great. The more I read of your blogs the more inspired I become.
OK, so I am about three months behind. A thousand years is like a day and a day is like a thousand years.
In a thousand years I hope to still be talking to you about the wonderful messages you shared. |
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| December 19, 2007 |
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| What kind words, Michael! In a thousand years we'll probably both be at the feet of Jesus, listening to the really good stuff!! |
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