Dear People Who Keep Company With God,
If you have a Bible with Jesus’ words in red, scan the red and you will be surprised at the number of question marks that show up. Jesus asked a lot of questions. We know when God asks a question He is not looking for information because He is God and knows everything. He is revealing something to us. So it makes sense that Jesus would ask a lot of questions. Some of His questions are very profound, but do not appear so at first, such as the time He asked a crowd of people who were pressing in on him, “Who touched my clothes?” (Mark 5:30). The question made no sense on the surface, but it led to a miracle.
I also think some of His questions seem incongruous on the surface, like the time after His resurrection when He walked through a wall and after calming His frightened disciples and showing them He was not a ghost, He asked, “Have you any food here?” (Luke 24:41). Think about it, He walks through a wall and is asking if they have food. A guy who could walk through a wall would certainly know if there was food in the house. He wants us to be involved in what He is doing. Every question He asks is an invitation to come into His world.
I believe the first question in the Bible that God asked is on His heart right now. Late last year I had dream in which the Father appeared as a businessman and was doing evaluations with us. Some things have occurred in the natural recently that I saw in the dream. This indicates the timing of the dream is now and the Lord is doing evaluations. The evaluation is not to judge or admonish us, but to help us know where we are and where we are going (John 13:3). Answering “Where are you?” is the first step toward your true identity and destiny.
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. 9 Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” Genesis 3:8-9
I want to share a couple of things He revealed to me in the question. I believe it will help you answer it.
First, the question absolutely debunks the notion that man is searching for God and He is hiding or aloof from us. God came looking for Adam. He was seeking the daily walk in the cool of the day with Adam that God so loved and looked forward to each day. God is seeking us like the prodigal son’s father who would go out every day and search across the horizon to see if his son perhaps was coming home (Luke 15:20). When we have failed or have become disappointed or angry with God and we run away and shrink from Him in our hearts while trying to make sense out of our life, He is still seeking us out desiring a relationship with us. He is a relational God.
Second, God did not need or have to ask the question. He could have acted in justice. He had warned them of the consequences of eating the fruit from the wrong tree. Yet He came to draw them out of their hiding place not to cast them out of His presence. He came as a voice of kindness (Rom. 2:4); it is the first revelation of grace in the Bible. He did not give to them what they deserved. He gave them opportunity to deal with what they had done. He was demonstrating His shepherding heart for the first time. He is a kind God. He is a restoring God (Ps. 23:3).
Later, God did remove them from the garden, but that was an act of mercy. He was protecting them from eating from the tree of life and being cursed to live for thousands of years in a fallen state. He is a very merciful God.
So He is asking, “Where are you?”
Many Blessings, BW