“I was afraid because I was naked; so, I hid.” Genesis 3:10
Some of the things I’d been most ashamed of, were not things I did, but rater
things that were done to me. If like me you recoil, literally wanting to roll into
a shell like a snail when the memory flashes through your mind, then you are
in good company. I’d stay up at night recounting all the conversations I’d
had in the day and wondering why I said that or didn’t say that – basically
worrying, sometimes, rather ashamed of myself for this or that.
When you feel exposed, or feel like you have been caught out not doing your
best, or being your best, the enemy uses these moments to make us feel
stripped; stripped of confidence, stripped of dignity, stripped of our
grounding, tripped of our identity or anchoring in Christ.
When we become vulnerable, and the natural response is to retreat – who
wants to be caught out – No one! Adam and Eve certainly did not. They
heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden of Eden and they hid
– they hid. Gen 3:8-9.
They had noticed their nakedness, their exposure, their vulnerability. Feeling
stripped of their confidence in the God who made them ruler of His precious
garden, a God who spends the cool of the day with them...they felt stripped
of their identity in this God. Can you identify with Adam and Eve?
God proceeded to clothe them, to restore their dignity and make a new
covenant. He continues to restore your identity and anchoring by sending
His only son; Jesus Christ to cover us, take our place, intercede for us and
give us His peace.
Prayer
My saviour, you see me fully, as I truly am. Teach me to come out of hiding,
even in my vulnerable state. Helping me to know you intimately and
continue to do your restorative work in my heart and mind that I can be
more and more like Christ in Jesus’ name. Amen.
