Then
the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”
So he said, “I heard Your
voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”
And He said, “Who told you
that you were naked? Have you
eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?” (Genesis 3: 9-11)
In Genesis chapter 3, God
came down for His usual evening meeting in the cool of the day with Adam, but
Adam wasn’t there.
The Lord called, “Adam,
where are you?”
God didn’t ask because He
couldn’t find Adam. We wish that was why
God asked. We wish that we could hide
from God when we sin, but that’s not the case.
God was really asking,
“Adam, why aren’t you where you were supposed to be? Why aren’t you in the place where I told you
to meet Me?”
When the Lord shows up in
worship, at your church, on Sunday morning----- Where are YOU?
Since the very first time, mankind’s
sin has caused us to miss worship, to skip his time of fellowship with God, and
then to make excuses.
“Lord,” said Adam, “I just
couldn’t make it. See, I’m naked, Lord. I didn’t have a thing to wear. And I couldn’t show up like that.”
And God said, “Who told you
you were naked?”
Again, it’s not that God
didn’t know. God wasn’t requesting
information. God was saying, “Who told
you that you were naked because I never brought up the fact that you were naked?”
You say you can’t serve
because you’re not educated. Well, who
told you that you weren’t educated? Who
brought it up? Because God never brought up the fact that you don’t have a
degree.
You say you can’t give
because you’re not out of debt. Who told
you that you’re not out of debt? God
didn’t bring that up when He invited you to test Him with tithes and offerings
and see won’t He open up the windows of Heaven and pour out a blessing that you
don’t have room enough to receive. (Malachi 3: 10)
You say you can’t lead or
help in ministry because you’re not comfortable with the responsibility.
Well, who told you that
you’re not comfortable enough? God
didn’t bring up comfort when He called Moses to go back to Egypt and lead
Israel out of bondage.
God never brought up comfort
when He called a prophet, or a king, or an apostle, or a poor Jewish girl from
Nazareth to go and walk out a great calling before His people.
Adam wanted his lack of clothing to excuse him
from showing up where God called him to be to do what God had called him to
do. What excuse are you using? And who told you that that’s a good
excuse?
Cause God didn’t.
And by the way, when Adam
said that he’d skipped the meeting with God because he was naked----- Adam
wasn’t naked anymore.
Before God showed up in the
Garden, Genesis 3: 7 says Then the eyes
of both of [Adam and Eve] were
opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together
and made themselves coverings.
YOU, like Adam, need to stop
bringing up old stuff as an excuse for not walking in your calling now.
O.K., you messed up a marriage. Where are you supposed to meet and serve God
now?
O.K., you used to be an
addict. Where are you supposed to meet
and serve God now?
O.K., you were a fool in
college. Where are you supposed to meet
and serve God now?
O.K., you have been shirking
and shaking your responsibilities in the church for a long time. We get that.
Come back. Meet God where He
placed you and serve Him NOW!
But I have to warn you: When you come back and face God, He is going
to skip right past your excuses and force you to deal with the REAL PROBLEM.
Naked wasn’t Adam’s
problem. He had been naked and serving
God just fine for the first 2 chapters of Genesis.
Naked wasn’t the
problem. Naked was a circumstance. SIN was the problem.
So God called on Adam to
deal with the real problem.
“Ain’t nobody worried about
you and naked,” God said. “But tell me
this Adam: Have you eaten from the tree
of which I commanded you that you should not eat?” (Genesis 3: 11)
(This is where God cocks His
lip, fold his arms, and taps His foot)
See, all that other
stuff---about how you grew up, and how folks mistreated you, and what you
didn’t used to have----- that’s all just circumstantial.
Stop putting the blame on
your parents, or your boss, or White people, or immigrants, or the media, or
your ex, or the woman whom You gave to be with me, Lord (Genesis 3: 12).
What did YOU eat that you
weren’t supposed to?
What is YOUR SIN?
What is YOUR role in your
failures?
What did God tell YOU to do
that you ain’t doing?
What (or whom) did God tell
you to leave alone that you’re still messing with?
Adam never dealt with
that. And so, God stopped asking. God stopped asking Adam to meet Him and serve
in His garden. But, Adam’s PURPOSE in
the garden was to serve. So, since He couldn’t fulfill his purpose, he had to
go.
Oh, wait. You might be thinking that Adam’s purpose in
the garden was to be fruitful, multiply, and have dominion. I see where you’re coming from.
That’s was Adam’s purpose in
the larger world, but to fulfill that purpose in a state of perfection and
favor, Adam had to fulfill His purpose in the place where He was to meet God
and serve.
When Adam lost Eden, he lost
God’s favor. Adam and Eve still went out
to multiply and pursue dominion, but now they had to pursue it on cursed
ground, through thorns and thistles, by sweat of his brow, with the
ever-present oppressive possibility and inevitability of death dogging his
every move.
Only grace kept Adam and Eve
alive. But grace doesn’t stop bad from
happening. Grace makes it possible for
you to carry on despite the bad that happens.
Grace gave Adam and Eve a 3rd
son named Seth. But Grace did not stop
the curse from manifesting in Cain and making him the murderer of his own
brother.
Our lives are a constant
cycle of frustrations and failures. We
survive. We persevere. We find happiness because of grace.
But if we would meet God
where He wants to meet us, deal with our own sin, and submit to His plan and
calling, then we would experience something even better than grace.
We would experience FAVOR.
Now don’t get too crazy over
terminology. Grace and Favor are
overlapping and sometimes indistinguishable concepts. The point is that things can be better.
We can do better than just
kinda, sorta, barely survive.
We can live and live life
more abundantly. We can. You can.
But you have to stop making
excuses. You have to get up and show up
where God called you to meet Him, experience His presence, and walk out the
holiest, most spiritually intimate part of the God’s great calling on your
life.
See you, Sunday.
---Anderson T. Graves II is a writer, community organizer and
consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.
Rev. Anderson T.
Graves II is pastor of
Hall Memorial CME Church in Montgomery, Alabama, executive director of
the Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization
(SAYNO) and director of rural leadership
development for the National Institute for Human Development (
NIHD).
Email atgravestwo2@aol.com
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Support by check or
money order may be mailed to
Hall Memorial CME
Church
541 Seibles Road
Montgomery, AL 36116
