God sure asks a lot of questions.
Adam, where are you?” Does God really not know where Adam is? Or is God playing dumb?
“I’m over here hiding in the bushes because I’m naked.” Adam had been naked since the day God made him, but now all of a sudden it’s a big deal.
“Who told you that you’re naked? Did you do something I need to know about?”
One time Jesus was walking with His disciples and they got into an argument about which of them was the greatest. Jesus turned and asked, “Hey, what are you guys talking about?” Like He didn’t know.
“Why don’t you go get your husband,” He asked the Samaritan woman, knowing full well that she had been married five times, was 0-for-5 on the marital front and was shacked up with a guy now.
“Oh, I don’t have a husband,” she replied, and tried to leave it at that. She’d been talkative up to that point, but now — faced with the truth about herself — she found the value in brevity.
“Where are your accusers? Is there no one left to condemn you?” He asked the woman caught in adultery.
“They’ve all gone, sir,” she said, trying to cover her shame.
Where are you? Who told you you’re naked? Have you eaten from that tree? What are you guys talking about? Where’s your husband? Does anyone condemn you?
Why does God insist on asking questions? He’s obviously not looking for information. He already knows the answer before He asks. Here’s why, He wants to know if we will come out of hiding and step into the light. Or will we retreat further into darkness? See, Jesus can handle anything you’ve got. There’s no mess so big He can’t fix it. But He lives in the light, and if you want to deal with Him, well, that’s where He is. When you’ve sinned and your life is in shambles, you have two basic options.
You can deny, cover up, stall for more time and (more than likely) end up digging yourself an even deeper hole.
Or you can confess, come clean, be honest about how helpless you are in the situation and ask for Someone to show you the way out.
You can stay where you are. You can hold on for dear life and Jesus will go away eventually. But then there will be no healing, no restoration, no forgiveness. The question God always asks is this: Will you come out of hiding?
Prayer
Lord God, You know me from the inside out, and there are no thoughts I can have that are not fully evident to You. Nor can I escape Your manifest presence; You are always with me. The realization of these truths would be overwhelming to me if it were not for the righteousness of Christ that was credited to me when I received the gift of new life through trust in His Person and work. In Him, I no longer need to hide from You or try to cover up my faults. Thank You for the holy relief of being able to approach Your throne of grace with confidence and open access in times of need. You have loved me with an everlasting love, and in Christ, nothing can separate me from that love because it is uncaused and unmerited by me. I thank You for the assurance that Your penetrating gaze purifies me as it invites me to live in the reality of my new identity in Your Son.
In Jesus’s name, Amen
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