I’ve been running. Not toward, but away from God.

I didn’t know I was running… I didn’t feel as though I was running, because on the surface, I wasn’t.

What I was doing, however, was shutting God out of a door. Shutting Him out of an area of my life that He was knocking on and  ready to step into and intervene, but I wouldn’t let Him.

This disobedience (yes, I must call it as it is), slowly created a separation between me and God… I couldn’t wouldn’t find the time to meet with God because though I desired to meet with Him on one hand, on the other I did not. Why? because I did not want God touching that area of my life. I couldn’t shake or ignore the fact that each time I met with God, He was pressing into that area, going into that dark closet with a BRIGHT flashlight and trying to move things around.

It was uncomfortable. Painful. And I found myself standing in front of that door when I would meet with God, trying to get Him to open ANY other one.

When I realized my disobedience to God, I felt ashamed and unworthy of even meeting with Him.

Realizing all of this, why was I still reluctant to open the door? Why did I continue hiding from God? Did I not trust what He would do if given access to that area? Did I not believe in His love for me? Did I not believe that He is for me and not against me?

In the midst of all this separation, God was trying to show me His love. His desire to set me free. He reminded me that He has always been for me, from the very beginning:

These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground— then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. Genesis 2:4-8

In the beginning, God formed us, and gave us HIS breath of life….

Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. Genesis 2:18-19

Then God gave us honor, allowing us to partake in naming His creation.

The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. …. And the man and his wife were both naked and they were not ashamed. Genesis 2:20-22 & 25

Then God saw that we had a need and He gave us what we needed to fulfill that need.

We know that when Adam and Eve were in the garden, God literally walked among them and the Bible tells us that they “were naked and unashamed.” They stood amongst every thing in creation that God had said was good and they were unashamed.

We also witness how quickly honor turned to shame when Adam and Eve disobeyed God. They became aware of their nakedness and they hid from God and tried to cover themselves. (Genesis 3: 1-13)

They hid and covered themselves.

What are we hiding from God? What is it that is making us run away from Him in shame? Where don’t we want to let Him in? To be transparent and naked before Him, unashamed? This is what He desires and intended from the beginning! Our nakedness before Him.

Naked; adj – exposed to view, plainly revealed

God loves us and wants to behold us, to look upon us, unadorned, unhindered. He wants to rid us of our shame! Even after Adam and Eve sinned and disobeyed and were naked and ashamed, GOD stepped in and released them of their shame, making coverings for them. He HIMSELF made coverings for them! (Genesis 3:21)

And we know that the same God of then is the same God of now, providing a covering for us through Jesus Christ, who gave up His life for us so that we could have all we need to stand before God unashamed. 

Who else loves us more than this? To be so very attentive to what we NEED and to step in to provide us with that, despite our disobedience, our running, our hiding?

God wants to be our covering. He wants into that area of our lives that we keep hidden, that we don’t want exposed, touched or seen.

I truly believe the lyrics of this song are God’s heart cry to us. He already sees what we’re hiding. And He still loves us. In His love He wants us to be free of that and return into intimacy with Him.He wants us to come out of hiding and out of our shame and back into naked, unashamed relationship with Him.

Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? 1 Corinthians 3:16

The Spirit of God is making His dwelling within us. He needs access to every room. He needs to clean up, build shelves, shift things around, order new furniture, etc! Let’s step aside from the door, and let Love in.