Day 18: Where Do You Run?

Read: Genesis 3:8

            If you ever enter my home, you’d be welcomed by a loud “meow” from my cat, Phoenix. He is a one-year-old cat who just wants to eat, be petted, and play. Most of the time, he is really nice to have around. He constantly follows me around and keeps me company. But sometimes, he gets into these random moods where he has a sudden burst of energy. Often times, that leads to him pushing my shoes all over my apartment, spilling his water, and just making a mess. 

Whenever he gets in these moods, I usually try to pick him up as a way to calm him down. But every single time, it’s a lost cause because he hides from me. He runs under the sofa or under the table, and always ends up somewhere I can’t reach him. My only goal is to help him, but he doesn’t want to let me. 

            In Genesis 3:8, God was in the garden of Eden, looking for Adam and Eve. “And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.” After they sinned, instead of running to their Creator, they hid from Him. Instead of asking Him for forgiveness, they opted to hide. God was literally there, pursuing them, and still they rejected Him. 

            We have a tendency to hide, to run away from God. And sometimes, it takes running from the presence of God to realize just how much we actually need Him. This reminds me of the story of Jonah. After God called Jonah to go reach out to the people of Ninevah, Jonah ran away. And, in the process, Jonah was swallowed by a fish, trapped for three days and three nights. 

In Jonah 2 it says, “I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice… I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God.When my life was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple… But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord!”

            God is present and is waiting for us to take up His call to serve Him. The question is, are we going to run from that? Are we going to hide from His will? Or, will we learn from Jonah, Adam, and Eve that we cannot hide from God. We need to run to Him and not away from Him.

Have you been ignoring a call from God in your life? Are you trying to hide from Him or resist what He wants you to do? Don’t make things harder for yourself. Instead, follow God’s will and experience the great reward that comes from obeying His call.