WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:02.319 Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast. 00:00:02.479 --> 00:00:07.040 We pray this message encourages you and provides the hope and light of Jesus Christ. 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:08.640 Thanks for tuning in. 00:00:18.800 --> 00:00:19.760 Good morning. 00:00:19.920 --> 00:00:22.000 Good morning, Awakening Church. 00:00:22.239 --> 00:00:23.760 I happy Mother's Day. 00:00:23.920 --> 00:00:27.519 I am thrilled and honored to join you on this special day. 00:00:27.679 --> 00:00:38.159 I am so thankful for my mom, who is a prayer warrior, and I'm sure there's not a day of my life, even from the womb on, where she has not prayed for me, so I am the product of her prayers. 00:00:38.320 --> 00:00:41.439 And I'm extremely thankful for my two daughters who are young adults. 00:00:41.600 --> 00:00:48.240 And for those of you with young adults, you know this is a big statement that they actually still want to be with me and hang out with me. 00:00:48.320 --> 00:00:50.960 Um, almost as much as I love hanging out with them. 00:00:51.039 --> 00:00:53.439 So I'm really grateful to be their mom. 00:00:53.600 --> 00:01:00.560 Um so there's this famous quote that being a mom is like watching your heart walk outside of your body. 00:01:00.799 --> 00:01:02.479 Okay, moms, relatable? 00:01:02.640 --> 00:01:04.400 Um, if you're a mom, you do get this. 00:01:04.560 --> 00:01:15.439 Not only is motherhood the hardest and the most rewarding work ever, um, it can also be a laboratory where God works on us, on our spiritual development. 00:01:15.519 --> 00:01:16.719 And it has been that for me. 00:01:16.799 --> 00:01:26.879 I think more than any other place, motherhood has been the place where God has shaped me, molded me, challenged me, and helped me become more fully who He made me to be. 00:01:27.040 --> 00:01:30.799 And so as moms, we often feel this weight of expectations. 00:01:30.879 --> 00:01:34.560 And I'm a recovering perfectionist, so I have a lot of these expectations. 00:01:34.719 --> 00:01:39.599 Sometimes they come from our families, our our um surroundings, or our culture. 00:01:39.760 --> 00:01:42.879 But I think a lot of it for moms, it comes from ourselves. 00:01:43.120 --> 00:01:45.200 And I think we try so hard to get it right. 00:01:45.280 --> 00:01:46.959 And this isn't just moms, this is all of us. 00:01:47.280 --> 00:01:49.200 Try so hard to get things right. 00:01:49.359 --> 00:01:56.400 Um, so along with the joy of living life that way, we there can also be some shame and guilt around parenting. 00:01:56.480 --> 00:02:08.240 And so I think this passage today we're gonna look at in Genesis 3 is extra relevant for um for those of us who are moms because it deals with this idea of shame and guilt and not being enough. 00:02:08.400 --> 00:02:24.800 And so you guys have been studying the book of Genesis since January for several months, and Genesis tells us who God is, who we are, and the life that God offers us, the life that is truly life, and we are in chapter three of this teaching series called Where in the World Did We Go Wrong? 00:02:25.039 --> 00:02:27.919 So I'd like us to just open up God's word with prayer. 00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:29.599 So would you pray with me? 00:02:30.560 --> 00:02:36.159 Lord God, we come before you in this special Mother's Day and we ask that you would be with us. 00:02:36.400 --> 00:02:43.520 God, on a day like today, there's a lot of complicated emotions, there's a lot of thoughts about what we're doing after service and and all the things. 00:02:43.599 --> 00:03:01.759 And I um I ask, Lord, by your spirit, that you would help us to focus on your word just in this little next bit of time, that you would your word would penetrate our hearts, you would soften our hearts, you would open our minds, um, and that you would stir our thoughts, that whatever you have for us by your spirit would be exactly what we need to hear today. 00:03:02.240 --> 00:03:18.879 And so, Lord, we invite you to work in us and among us this morning, and that you would just bring life into the words I speak, and that you would encourage us, convict us, um do whatever it is, Lord, that you want to do, and as we are open, we want to hear from you, Lord. 00:03:18.960 --> 00:03:22.240 So um come meet us here, we pray in Christ's mighty name. 00:03:22.479 --> 00:03:23.120 Amen. 00:03:23.680 --> 00:03:24.319 Amen. 00:03:24.560 --> 00:03:33.840 All right, so um when our daughters were little, uh, they used to be so excited whenever they heard dad's um door key. 00:03:33.919 --> 00:03:38.000 Like they would hear the key go, they would hear the garage door make that noise, and they would just run. 00:03:38.159 --> 00:03:40.719 Whatever they were doing, they would drop it and they would run. 00:03:40.879 --> 00:03:45.599 And they would start climbing on him on his knees and just like lift their arms up to be picked up. 00:03:45.680 --> 00:03:49.759 They would do that before he even had a chance to drop his keys down or put his backpack down. 00:03:49.919 --> 00:03:53.280 They were so excited to see him and tell him about their day. 00:03:53.360 --> 00:03:56.159 They'd be talking a mile a minute, bringing stuff to him. 00:03:56.240 --> 00:04:06.560 Um, and but on the days where they misbehaved, where they had a timeout, where they were really cranky, where something had not gone well, um, they wouldn't, they wouldn't greet him. 00:04:06.719 --> 00:04:08.879 They would wait or they would hide. 00:04:08.960 --> 00:04:12.479 Um, they weren't as eager to uh be with him. 00:04:12.879 --> 00:04:18.800 And so I think when they did something wrong, um, we you typically had this process with them. 00:04:18.879 --> 00:04:22.959 And it wasn't like, you know, we thought, okay, this is what we need to do with this process. 00:04:23.040 --> 00:04:24.879 I think it kind of evolved over time. 00:04:25.040 --> 00:04:26.959 So we would have this four-part conversation. 00:04:27.040 --> 00:04:36.240 So if they did something wrong, we would go where they were, and whether it was their bed or the playroom or on the floor, we would meet them where they were, and then we would kind of go through this four-step process. 00:04:36.399 --> 00:04:42.879 And I really don't know where I got it, except that I think it really resonates with how God deals with us and our sin. 00:04:42.959 --> 00:04:48.800 Um, so this may be in the beginning of my coaching and my pastoral skills back then, way back. 00:04:48.879 --> 00:04:53.920 Um, so we would, the four-step process was we would ask, what did you do wrong? 00:04:54.240 --> 00:04:55.519 Why was it wrong? 00:04:55.759 --> 00:04:59.040 How can you make it right, and what would you do differently next time? 00:04:59.279 --> 00:05:00.959 So the process looks something like this. 00:05:01.199 --> 00:05:02.079 What did you do wrong? 00:05:02.240 --> 00:05:04.879 I pushed my sister because she tried to take my toy. 00:05:05.040 --> 00:05:06.399 This was a common one. 00:05:06.560 --> 00:05:07.759 Um, why was it wrong? 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:10.800 Because it made her cry and she could be hurt. 00:05:10.959 --> 00:05:12.399 Um, how can you make it right? 00:05:12.560 --> 00:05:13.680 I'll say I'm sorry. 00:05:13.839 --> 00:05:17.680 Okay, footnote here, sometimes they would say, but I'm not sorry. 00:05:17.920 --> 00:05:21.360 And I would say, Do you want to time out until you're sorry? 00:05:21.519 --> 00:05:22.959 Oh, I'm really sorry now. 00:05:23.279 --> 00:05:25.439 I'm ready, I'm ready to say sorry now. 00:05:25.600 --> 00:05:28.639 Um, and then the last one, what would you do differently next time? 00:05:28.800 --> 00:05:30.800 I will take turns and I'll share my toy. 00:05:30.959 --> 00:05:42.959 And so we use this process to help our kids understand and become aware of their actions, understand the consequences on other people as well as themselves, and then practice making better decisions last time. 00:05:43.040 --> 00:05:45.279 It kind of gave them that agency, this practice. 00:05:45.439 --> 00:05:50.319 And I think God, our Heavenly Father, has a similar process for us, his beloved children. 00:05:50.480 --> 00:06:12.639 When we do something wrong, we disobey God, we act in ways that are not aligned with God's will for us, um, or our commitment to Jesus, then I think the Holy Spirit helps us become aware of it and confess it, become convicted of it, repent, then to turn away from sin, and then choose to change, to restore this right relationship back with God ourselves and others. 00:06:12.879 --> 00:06:15.120 And when I say it like this, it seems really simple, right? 00:06:15.199 --> 00:06:16.800 You're like step one, two, three, four. 00:06:16.879 --> 00:06:24.079 Um, but we know it's really hard to difficult and so difficult for us to face our sins and to acknowledge when we've messed up. 00:06:24.399 --> 00:06:40.800 Instead of confession, we are tempted to hide from God and to pretend it didn't happen or just to kind of bury, bury it, um, as if, as if we could hide from God of the universe who is omniscient, omnipresent, and knows everything. 00:06:40.879 --> 00:06:44.480 But this is what Adam and Eve does, and this is sometimes what we do. 00:06:44.720 --> 00:06:54.319 So earlier in chapter three, last week, you saw how Adam and Eve gave in to temptation, believed Satan's lies, and then disobeyed God by eating the fruit that he had forbidden them to eat. 00:06:54.480 --> 00:06:56.160 So we pick up their story here today. 00:06:56.319 --> 00:06:59.600 Turn your Bibles or on the screens to Genesis 3, 8 to 10. 00:06:59.680 --> 00:07:03.360 Um, and I'm live I'm reading from the New Living Translation for all the passages. 00:07:03.600 --> 00:07:09.759 So when the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. 00:07:09.920 --> 00:07:12.399 So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. 00:07:12.560 --> 00:07:15.439 Then the Lord God called to the man, Where are you? 00:07:15.680 --> 00:07:18.959 He replied, I heard you walking the garden, so I hid. 00:07:19.120 --> 00:07:21.360 I was afraid because I was naked. 00:07:21.920 --> 00:07:26.240 Adam and Eve knew that they had disobeyed God's command and that it was not good. 00:07:26.480 --> 00:07:30.319 And eating that fruit, it did not give them what they thought it would. 00:07:30.399 --> 00:07:31.680 Um Satan had lied. 00:07:31.839 --> 00:07:34.000 And now they hear God coming and they hide. 00:07:34.160 --> 00:07:36.480 They're naked, they're ashamed, they're afraid. 00:07:36.720 --> 00:07:43.680 But up until this point, Adam and Eve had enjoyed this beautiful, um, clear communion with the Lord God. 00:07:43.839 --> 00:07:48.079 They had been with him and they had partnered with him in naming the animals. 00:07:48.160 --> 00:07:50.639 They were given stewardship over all of creation. 00:07:50.800 --> 00:07:52.480 Um, they walked together in the garden. 00:07:52.560 --> 00:07:58.720 I imagine this happened on a regular basis, and they enjoyed this perfect pure union and closeness with God. 00:07:59.040 --> 00:08:05.199 But when sin enters the human heart, it then opens a door for shame and fear to walk in. 00:08:05.439 --> 00:08:08.240 So shame is this common universal human experience. 00:08:08.399 --> 00:08:09.759 We've all felt this. 00:08:09.839 --> 00:08:12.399 Um, it's the emotion that we do not enjoy. 00:08:12.560 --> 00:08:16.079 It's that flush of guilt, this feeling like, ooh, we've been found out. 00:08:16.160 --> 00:08:17.519 It feels really vulnerable. 00:08:17.759 --> 00:08:20.480 And we've been found out as being not enough. 00:08:20.639 --> 00:08:28.560 Whatever that may be, not good enough, not competent enough, not kind enough, not spiritual enough, fill in the blank of what that is for you. 00:08:28.720 --> 00:08:33.919 And we also feel exposed that now someone has seen something about us that we were trying not to show. 00:08:34.080 --> 00:08:40.080 And we wanted to present something better than we actually were, and that sense of shame makes us run for cover. 00:08:40.240 --> 00:08:46.879 Um, have you ever done something or said something and you wish like the floor would open up and you could just hide in the hole until it passes? 00:08:47.120 --> 00:08:48.480 Like I have definitely been there. 00:08:48.559 --> 00:08:57.200 I put my foot in my mouth, and we'll go through great lengths to avoid that feeling of shame because it's so uncomfortable and it's so painful. 00:08:57.519 --> 00:09:03.600 But sometimes we get shame mixed up with guilt, and they're two very different things, and it's so important that we understand the difference. 00:09:03.840 --> 00:09:10.240 As sociologist and shame researcher Brene Brown pointed out, there's a profound difference between shame and guilt. 00:09:10.399 --> 00:09:12.799 I believe that guilt is adaptive and helpful. 00:09:12.960 --> 00:09:19.279 It's holding something we've done or failed to do up against our values and feeling the psychological discomfort. 00:09:19.440 --> 00:09:27.679 I define shame as the intensely painful feeling or experience of believing that we are flawed and therefore unworthy of love and belonging. 00:09:27.840 --> 00:09:33.039 Something we've experienced, done, or failed to do has made us unworthy of connection. 00:09:33.360 --> 00:09:39.200 So, simply put, guilt says, I did something wrong, and shame says I am wrong. 00:09:39.440 --> 00:09:43.919 Guilt equals I did something bad, shame equals I am bad. 00:09:44.159 --> 00:09:48.320 So guilt is a temporary emotion, while shame is more of a state of being. 00:09:48.399 --> 00:09:54.320 It's like a filter by which we see ourselves and see ourselves as not being worthy in some way. 00:09:54.559 --> 00:10:02.399 So in biblical terms, this is a similar profound difference between feeling convicted of sin versus feeling condemned because of sin. 00:10:02.799 --> 00:10:15.360 Conviction of sin is an appropriate awareness, kind of like guilt, where I realize, ooh, I did something that didn't measure up to God's standard or God's desire for me, and the commitment that I made, I violated that commitment to follow Jesus there. 00:10:15.519 --> 00:10:20.080 And Romans 3.23 tells us that we've all sinned and fall short of the glory of God. 00:10:20.320 --> 00:10:21.519 So that is our reality. 00:10:21.679 --> 00:10:23.279 Every day we are going to fall short. 00:10:23.360 --> 00:10:25.519 We just have to accept that this is our reality. 00:10:25.840 --> 00:10:30.720 But there's a gap between us and God that God meets in us. 00:10:30.960 --> 00:10:40.159 So when sin um happens, we don't measure up, we experience that conviction, and then it moves us to ask God for help because we need his help always. 00:10:40.320 --> 00:10:41.600 And then we choose to change. 00:10:41.679 --> 00:10:47.200 We choose to seek reconciliation, to make amends, to restore ourselves from with God. 00:10:47.279 --> 00:10:49.440 And this is a healthy, holy process. 00:10:49.679 --> 00:10:54.399 In fact, it is the Holy Spirit who actually stirs our hearts and thoughts towards conviction. 00:10:54.639 --> 00:11:02.159 Psalm 139, which is kind of the key psalm for this message, opens with acknowledgement: O Lord, you have examined my heart. 00:11:02.240 --> 00:11:07.279 You know everything about me, you know everything I do, you know what I'm gonna say before I say it. 00:11:07.440 --> 00:11:14.320 And then he closes many verses later with this prayer Search me, O God, and know my heart, test me and know my thoughts. 00:11:14.639 --> 00:11:18.480 God knows us better than we could ever, ever know ourselves. 00:11:18.639 --> 00:11:23.600 Psalm 139 could have entitled, God already knows, and he loves you anyway. 00:11:23.759 --> 00:11:30.960 Um and we experience ourselves from the inside, and we just want to hide what's on the outside, but God already sees all of it. 00:11:31.200 --> 00:11:49.679 It's been so interesting, and as I coach um leaders and people, that sometimes we'll do these 360 reviews, which basically you have the client and then their assessment of how they're doing, but then you ask their boss, their um employees, their uh colleagues, and usually the picture's not the same. 00:11:49.840 --> 00:11:55.600 They can only see themselves from the inside, but other people are experiencing how they are on the outside. 00:11:55.759 --> 00:12:00.399 And then the the goal, of course, is to match that up and to make changes if necessary. 00:12:00.639 --> 00:12:02.960 So, similarly, we all have blind spots. 00:12:03.120 --> 00:12:05.039 We are great at justifying our actions. 00:12:05.120 --> 00:12:13.759 So we want to regularly ask the Holy Spirit and a trusted Christian close friend or your spouse or somebody who knows you well to say, hey, what's wrong in me that can be changed? 00:12:13.840 --> 00:12:15.360 What do I need to tweak or change? 00:12:15.519 --> 00:12:20.720 So conviction is a good thing because it leads us to change and it often comes through the Holy Spirit. 00:12:21.039 --> 00:12:24.320 Condemnation, on the other hand, is more like shame. 00:12:24.480 --> 00:12:27.360 It's corrosive, it's like rust on metal. 00:12:27.519 --> 00:12:34.960 Initially starts off small with a small sin, and then more and more rust builds until the metal's integrity is broken and it falls apart. 00:12:35.519 --> 00:12:42.559 When we feel condemned, we're not led towards repentance or to turn things around or to make changes. 00:12:42.720 --> 00:12:49.759 The fear of condemnation makes us so much more likely to hide or to ignore or get really defensive and self-protective. 00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:54.159 Condemnation keeps us trapped and stuck in shame. 00:12:54.320 --> 00:12:58.720 Because it feeds us these lies from the enemy that we are hopeless and helpless and we cannot change. 00:12:58.960 --> 00:13:00.000 That is not true. 00:13:00.159 --> 00:13:01.519 That is not the gospel. 00:13:01.679 --> 00:13:05.200 And it keeps us hiding from God and from ourselves. 00:13:05.440 --> 00:13:13.840 We live in a culture that is constantly trying to shame us by telling us that what we have isn't enough, and that what we are isn't enough. 00:13:14.000 --> 00:13:21.039 Um, and for example, for mothers, a lot of um the pressure we're under is such an impossible standard. 00:13:21.200 --> 00:13:25.279 You know, if you are a stay-home mom, then there's pressure to do all of that perfectly. 00:13:25.440 --> 00:13:32.000 If you are a working mom, then there's additional pressure to do all of that perfectly, um, or any combination in between. 00:13:32.159 --> 00:13:40.720 And I remember between my career as an attorney and a pastor, I spent about five years being a stay-home mom, and it was such a privilege financially to be able to do so. 00:13:40.879 --> 00:13:46.000 And I would, I love that time, I wouldn't change a thing except that it was really hard. 00:13:46.159 --> 00:13:55.519 I look at those babies up here, I'm like, that's nonstop diapers and spit-ups and laundry, and it's tedious, and it's it's it's a lot of um lot of labor. 00:13:55.679 --> 00:14:06.799 Um, but at the same time, when I was a working mom, then I felt the pressure of, okay, I'm not home enough, I'm not doing um bringing the you know the best snacks. 00:14:06.960 --> 00:14:08.240 Like, okay, true story. 00:14:08.399 --> 00:14:13.279 So I used to feel guilty that I couldn't bring like the best homemade snacks or whatever. 00:14:13.519 --> 00:14:18.720 And so I felt a little less than because of that, and I couldn't go on a field trip or be team mom, all the things. 00:14:18.879 --> 00:14:25.039 And then this one mom early on, like she took me aside and she said, Carolyn, this is what you do as a working mom. 00:14:25.200 --> 00:14:39.600 She was a working mom for many years, and she said, You go to an upscale grocery store, like Whole Foods or something, and then you get, you buy it, then you put it on a pretty plate, you crumble a little bit, and then you bring it and you pass it off as homemade. 00:14:40.480 --> 00:14:44.240 In the first service, someone actually said, That's a great idea. 00:14:44.639 --> 00:14:51.759 So someone's doing it in the first service, but I didn't ever have the guts to do it, but that just tells you the kind of the level of pressure that moms face. 00:14:51.840 --> 00:15:00.159 And it's not just moms, everybody faces this pressure to measure up to a certain level and to be presented in a certain way. 00:15:00.320 --> 00:15:05.279 We all get hung up and we hide, we pretend to live up to our culture's definition. 00:15:05.360 --> 00:15:08.799 And it fills our lives and then it feeds the shame monster. 00:15:09.279 --> 00:15:10.879 But we have another choice. 00:15:11.039 --> 00:15:13.919 We can choose to let Jesus tell us who we are. 00:15:14.080 --> 00:15:19.039 And I remember asking God every season of my life, is this what I'm needed most? 00:15:19.200 --> 00:15:20.320 Is this what I should be doing? 00:15:20.399 --> 00:15:26.080 Whether it was ministry, whether it was home, whatever it was, and asking God, I want to be with you, I want to partner with you. 00:15:26.240 --> 00:15:27.440 So is this the space? 00:15:27.600 --> 00:15:29.360 And then if so, how do I do this well? 00:15:29.440 --> 00:15:34.559 How do I do this well as a stay-home mom or a working mom or whatever it is that you've called me to do? 00:15:34.799 --> 00:15:46.159 And I think we need to constantly ask God to sort our priorities, to help us figure out, okay, where are the areas of our weakness, where are the areas that God wants to shape us and mold us and change us? 00:15:46.320 --> 00:15:47.120 And we can do this. 00:15:47.279 --> 00:15:50.480 We don't have to hide because God's mercy covers all of us. 00:15:50.639 --> 00:15:52.000 So we can trust the good news. 00:15:52.159 --> 00:16:01.279 1 John 1 9 tells us if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 00:16:01.600 --> 00:16:08.320 And then Romans 8 1 to 2, therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 00:16:08.559 --> 00:16:14.879 Because through Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. 00:16:15.039 --> 00:16:24.240 If you are someone who struggles with thoughts of condemnation or not enoughness, or feel like a failure, or feel like you're stuck, this is the verse to memorize. 00:16:24.399 --> 00:16:25.120 Just that one line. 00:16:25.279 --> 00:16:28.960 There is no condemnation for you in Christ Jesus. 00:16:29.200 --> 00:16:31.679 He has already set you free. 00:16:31.919 --> 00:16:34.559 And let that truth just soak into your bones. 00:16:34.720 --> 00:16:41.519 And then you accept God's invitation to shift your sin and shame to conviction, not to condemnation. 00:16:41.600 --> 00:16:45.039 And then we can move forward with repentance and forgiveness. 00:16:45.200 --> 00:16:51.360 Some people, I think, get stuck thinking, okay, I'm just gonna confess and repent, and then they confess, repent, and they just keep repeating that cycle. 00:16:51.600 --> 00:16:57.840 At some point, we want to move towards and away from condemnation and move in that freedom of God's forgiveness. 00:16:58.080 --> 00:17:00.639 So let's go back to the Garden of Eden, back to our text. 00:17:00.799 --> 00:17:03.759 So Adam and Eve had a choice when they heard God walking. 00:17:03.919 --> 00:17:08.640 They could have called out to him, they could have run up to him, fall on their knees, and say, I messed up. 00:17:08.799 --> 00:17:13.920 Um they could have confessed, they could have done many things, but they didn't do any of that. 00:17:14.160 --> 00:17:17.680 They had a choice, they could face up to their sin or they could hide. 00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:19.440 And we read this now, right? 00:17:19.519 --> 00:17:22.960 And we go, how silly for them to think they could hide from God. 00:17:23.119 --> 00:17:25.759 And yet, don't we do the same? 00:17:26.240 --> 00:17:34.720 It's like this picture of a ship on the rough seas, trying to dodge and hide from the light coming into from the lighthouse that's shining its way back home. 00:17:34.880 --> 00:17:42.960 Instead of going towards and to, and inside the lighthouse, this you try to maneuver your own ship on the storm and stumble around. 00:17:43.119 --> 00:17:46.079 And so, what are some things that we try to hide from God? 00:17:46.480 --> 00:18:02.880 Our sins, the idols of the world that we're pursuing instead, our addictions, whether it's you know, alcohol, gambling, porn, drugs, shopping, whatever it may be, um, our selfishness and our self-righteousness, perhaps unforgiveness that we're hung holding on to. 00:18:03.200 --> 00:18:11.119 Um, basically, anything that causes us to do our own thing, to set ourselves apart from God, will lead us to feeling shame. 00:18:11.519 --> 00:18:14.799 And a related question might be why are you hiding? 00:18:15.039 --> 00:18:18.640 Why are you avoiding God's light and moving towards that? 00:18:18.880 --> 00:18:25.200 Um, I think it's because we want to protect ourselves from seeing ourselves and from other people from seeing us as we really are. 00:18:25.359 --> 00:18:31.440 We want to pretend that we're better off than we are, because it's so painful to see that where we fall short. 00:18:31.759 --> 00:18:37.039 Um, we might not trust that God loves us and would actually forgive us and embrace us back. 00:18:37.279 --> 00:18:45.759 We may be afraid of judgment from other people or rejection from God, or it may be that we're really enjoying the sin and we don't want to give it up. 00:18:46.000 --> 00:18:49.519 So we don't want to repent or change, and change is always hard. 00:18:49.759 --> 00:18:56.640 So Adam and Eve's choice to hide reflects their misunderstanding of God and his amazing grace and unconditional love. 00:18:56.880 --> 00:18:59.200 Adam's response to God's question, where are you? 00:18:59.440 --> 00:19:01.680 reveals that he does not know God's heart. 00:19:01.920 --> 00:19:06.160 He's self-focused with his fear and shame and avoidance of punishment. 00:19:06.319 --> 00:19:12.000 He has forgotten the character of the God who made him, the God who provided for him, and the God who loves him. 00:19:12.079 --> 00:19:14.960 He's forgotten that God is with him and for him. 00:19:15.759 --> 00:19:20.400 And I recently was talking to my daughters as I was preparing this message about what they remember. 00:19:20.480 --> 00:19:22.319 Um they're 24 and 26 now. 00:19:22.400 --> 00:19:28.000 So, like, what do they remember about when they were little and they were being disciplined for misbehaving? 00:19:28.160 --> 00:19:29.759 And they both said the same thing. 00:19:29.920 --> 00:19:34.960 They said they knew that the punishment would be worse if they didn't come clean fast. 00:19:35.200 --> 00:19:37.359 They knew that the hiding was going to be worse. 00:19:37.440 --> 00:19:43.119 And you know how many politicians and public figures get in trouble, not because of what they've done, but because of the cover-up. 00:19:43.519 --> 00:19:44.720 So it's kind of that idea. 00:19:44.799 --> 00:20:00.799 And I was so glad to hear this because I was trying to train them not just to own up to their mistakes and take responsibility, but the reason I wanted them to fess up fast was because as long as they weren't coming clean, there would be an obstruction, a barrier between us and them. 00:20:01.039 --> 00:20:05.759 They would feel that fear and they would have to hold that tension and stress of hiding. 00:20:05.839 --> 00:20:10.319 And I didn't want them to live wondering if they would be forgiven or if they would still be loved. 00:20:10.400 --> 00:20:12.240 I didn't want them to carry that heavy burden. 00:20:12.400 --> 00:20:15.039 And I think God doesn't want us to carry that burden. 00:20:15.200 --> 00:20:24.160 And he wants us to come to him so that he can show us his love and his grace, and that we don't have to live in that tension and that shame any longer. 00:20:24.400 --> 00:20:27.119 And then that we would know that his love never changes. 00:20:27.279 --> 00:20:30.319 He is always coming after us with his goodness. 00:20:31.119 --> 00:20:37.359 The other problem with hiding from God is that when we do that, we often also have to hide from ourselves. 00:20:37.519 --> 00:20:45.119 So instead of seeing ourselves holistically as beloved children of God in all areas of our life, we segment our spiritual lives. 00:20:45.279 --> 00:20:46.319 We have our personal life. 00:20:46.480 --> 00:20:47.759 Imagine like a pie chart. 00:20:47.839 --> 00:20:53.759 Your personal life, your work life, your relational life, your sexual life, your financial life, probably missing some other types of lives. 00:20:53.920 --> 00:20:56.640 But basically, we kind of tend to segment all of it. 00:20:56.720 --> 00:20:59.519 So we come to church to worship, which we're so glad you're here. 00:20:59.680 --> 00:21:05.359 We go to life group for fellowship with other Christians, um, but we may never confess the deeper things. 00:21:05.519 --> 00:21:15.680 We may have times with the Lord where we pray and read scripture, but we may not be real about what's underneath the bitterness, the resentment, the pain, whatever may be underneath it. 00:21:15.759 --> 00:21:17.519 Um, the things that make us feel ashamed. 00:21:17.599 --> 00:21:20.240 And we become segmented people and not integrated. 00:21:20.319 --> 00:21:21.839 So we're at war with ourselves. 00:21:22.079 --> 00:21:26.160 And it's a bit like the TV show super popular right now on Apple, um, Severance. 00:21:26.400 --> 00:21:27.920 I don't know if you guys have watched Severance. 00:21:28.079 --> 00:21:29.039 Season one was really good. 00:21:29.119 --> 00:21:30.319 It's a sci-fi show. 00:21:30.559 --> 00:21:33.200 Season two, I just don't have the brain energy for it. 00:21:33.359 --> 00:21:34.640 I don't quite understand it all. 00:21:34.799 --> 00:21:37.200 But the whole premise of this show is so fascinating. 00:21:37.279 --> 00:21:43.359 It's that these people have chosen, characters have chosen to sever their work life from their home life. 00:21:43.519 --> 00:21:47.440 And their emotions and relationships are all self contained in either of those spheres. 00:21:47.680 --> 00:21:52.720 The problem, of course, is that human beings are not segmented, and so now they're they bleed in. 00:21:52.799 --> 00:21:56.240 They start to bleed in and start to affect each other's life. 00:21:56.400 --> 00:21:59.759 And while things are separate, they're experiencing this tension of. 00:22:00.880 --> 00:22:01.920 Am I this person? 00:22:02.160 --> 00:22:03.119 Am I this person? 00:22:03.440 --> 00:22:12.000 I think we also, when we're hiding from God, hiding from ourselves, we experience this tension when we act in ways that we know are not pleasing to the Lord. 00:22:12.160 --> 00:22:20.000 We know when we've sinned and we haven't owned up to it, when we've hurt people and haven't asked for forgiveness, we have this conflict within ourselves. 00:22:20.160 --> 00:22:23.920 So when we hide from God, we're lost to ourselves and who we were created to be. 00:22:24.319 --> 00:22:34.079 I was here a few months ago preaching about Imago Day, the idea that God created human beings in his image and in his likeness to become more like his son Jesus Christ. 00:22:34.240 --> 00:22:41.680 And so when we hide, we lose that part of ourselves because we're not bringing that before the Lord. 00:22:41.920 --> 00:22:47.039 It takes a lot of energy and the mental, spiritual, emotional energy to hide. 00:22:47.200 --> 00:22:57.519 It's actually easier and more clear to just allow ourselves to be fully real, fully vulnerable, to present ourselves to the Lord as we actually are. 00:22:58.000 --> 00:23:01.119 And we can't do this without the Lord's help. 00:23:01.200 --> 00:23:06.000 Because there's actually a spirit in us that is convicting us and calling us back home to the Father. 00:23:06.240 --> 00:23:10.799 And remember, shame isn't an emotion, it's a lens with which we view ourselves. 00:23:10.960 --> 00:23:16.720 But Jesus Christ gives us a better lens, the lens of freedom and salvation and hope and healing. 00:23:16.880 --> 00:23:22.079 So when we move from hiding, we can come into the light where Jesus is and he can meet us there. 00:23:22.160 --> 00:23:23.519 And he always wants to meet us there. 00:23:23.599 --> 00:23:29.839 And so we become more fully who we are when we draw closer to God, more integrated and more whole. 00:23:30.160 --> 00:23:33.119 So as the Lord God walks in the garden, he asks, Where are you? 00:23:33.279 --> 00:23:37.039 Well, clearly, God isn't asking about a physical location. 00:23:37.200 --> 00:23:38.960 He is omniscient, omnipresent. 00:23:39.039 --> 00:23:40.319 He knows exactly where they are. 00:23:40.480 --> 00:23:42.079 He does not need a GPS system. 00:23:42.240 --> 00:23:43.920 He's inviting a connection. 00:23:44.079 --> 00:23:52.480 I think he's asking them to give voice to their lostness and giving an opportunity to reconnect, to face him, because he wants to love them. 00:23:52.640 --> 00:23:58.480 He is the pursuer, the chaser, the inviter, and he's the God who loves us recklessly, extravagantly. 00:23:58.559 --> 00:24:00.079 We see that with the prodigal son. 00:24:00.319 --> 00:24:02.799 So God is always taking that first step. 00:24:02.960 --> 00:24:06.799 He's always calling out, looking for you, asking, where are you? 00:24:07.200 --> 00:24:08.720 And so how will you respond? 00:24:08.880 --> 00:24:12.240 What does it look like to come out of hiding and move into his light? 00:24:12.480 --> 00:24:17.279 The first step to do that is confession, to repent with a contrite, humble heart. 00:24:17.440 --> 00:24:20.000 So ask God what is hiding within your soul. 00:24:20.319 --> 00:24:24.400 Psalm 139, 23, 24 says, Search me, O God, and know my heart. 00:24:24.640 --> 00:24:26.880 Test me and know my anxious thoughts. 00:24:27.119 --> 00:24:31.440 Point out anything that offends you and lead me along the path of everlasting life. 00:24:31.599 --> 00:24:34.480 It's kind of like the airport TSA x-ray. 00:24:34.640 --> 00:24:41.519 When you walk through, you're like, you forget, you don't even know that there's metal in your shoe until it goes off, and you're like, oh, there's metal in my shoe. 00:24:41.599 --> 00:24:50.799 It's we're asking God to show us in our souls and our minds what's hiding in there and asking him to reveal it so that we can deal with it together. 00:24:51.200 --> 00:24:55.359 Jesus' invitation is always to connect in prayer and he's always waiting. 00:24:55.519 --> 00:24:58.319 So step one is to confess and repent. 00:24:58.480 --> 00:25:01.680 Step two is to receive forgiveness and move into the light. 00:25:01.839 --> 00:25:04.400 You don't have to dwell in step one that long. 00:25:04.559 --> 00:25:06.640 You just repent and you say, okay, God help me. 00:25:06.720 --> 00:25:08.240 Then you receive your his forgiveness. 00:25:08.400 --> 00:25:09.759 1 John 1:7. 00:25:10.160 --> 00:25:12.960 But we are living in the light as God is in the light. 00:25:13.200 --> 00:25:18.799 And then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his son, cleanses us from all sin. 00:25:19.279 --> 00:25:21.359 You don't have to have it all figured out. 00:25:21.599 --> 00:25:23.519 You just need to take a step towards God. 00:25:23.680 --> 00:25:29.200 Come as you are, mess on all the brokenness, and let God's light shine through. 00:25:29.279 --> 00:25:33.759 And his light will expose whatever hiddenness there is and reveal the deeper beauty within you. 00:25:33.920 --> 00:25:37.519 You become more you and more of his masterpiece. 00:25:38.000 --> 00:25:46.640 So a third step then, after repenting and after receiving his forgiveness, is then to hide in God and not from God. 00:25:47.119 --> 00:25:49.599 We want to anchor our identity deeply in Christ. 00:25:49.680 --> 00:25:51.599 So here's an image of what that might look like. 00:25:51.759 --> 00:25:57.200 You're on the same rough waters now, but you, and I don't know if you can see his tiny figure inside the lighthouse. 00:25:57.359 --> 00:26:03.119 You're hiding securely within the light of God's love, no matter what storms you're facing. 00:26:03.759 --> 00:26:07.359 Psalm 32 says, For you are my hiding place. 00:26:07.519 --> 00:26:08.799 You protect me from trouble. 00:26:08.960 --> 00:26:10.880 You surround me with songs of victory. 00:26:11.039 --> 00:26:14.319 And the Lord says, I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. 00:26:14.480 --> 00:26:16.559 He's not withholding anything good from you. 00:26:16.799 --> 00:26:18.319 I will, I that was my add-on. 00:26:18.720 --> 00:26:21.119 I will advise you and watch over you. 00:26:21.519 --> 00:26:29.599 This reminded me as I was preparing of an iconic children's story that was published in 1942 at the start of World War II. 00:26:29.680 --> 00:26:36.559 It was, it's called The Runaway Bunny, and it was published then, it was a scary, unstable time being of the war. 00:26:36.720 --> 00:26:40.960 And I remember having this as actually the version of the book I used to read to the girls. 00:26:41.599 --> 00:26:48.720 I remember they love this book, and I told them I was going to use it here, and they're like, oh, but mom, it's kind of a stalker mom story. 00:26:48.880 --> 00:26:51.119 It's not really emotionally healthy. 00:26:51.519 --> 00:26:56.720 It may be, but I think it's a great picture of how God loves and chases after us. 00:26:56.799 --> 00:27:04.720 And this being Mother's Day, I want to read you this story, and I want you to substitute yourself as the little bunny and God as the mother. 00:27:05.359 --> 00:27:07.519 So we're going to read this together. 00:27:07.920 --> 00:27:10.799 Once there was a little bunny who wanted to run away. 00:27:10.960 --> 00:27:13.519 So he said to his mother, I'm running away. 00:27:13.759 --> 00:27:18.240 If you run away, said his mother, I will run after you, for you are my little bunny. 00:27:18.880 --> 00:27:24.240 If you run after me, said the little bunny, I will become a fish in a trout stream and I will swim away from you. 00:27:24.720 --> 00:27:30.079 If you become a fish in a trout stream, said his mother, I will become a fisherman and I will fish for you. 00:27:33.279 --> 00:27:38.640 If you become a fisherman, said the little bunny, I will become a rock on a mountain high above you. 00:27:38.960 --> 00:27:45.599 If you become a rock on the mountain high above me, said his mother, I will be a mountain climber and I will climb to where you are. 00:27:49.039 --> 00:27:53.519 If you become a mountain climber, said the little bunny, I will be a crocus in a hidden garden. 00:27:53.759 --> 00:27:58.400 If you become a crocus in a hidden garden, said his mother, I will be a gardener and I will find you. 00:28:02.079 --> 00:28:06.960 If you are a gardener and find me, said the little bunny, I will be a bird and fly away from you. 00:28:07.440 --> 00:28:12.720 If you become a bird and fly away from me, said his mother, I will be a tree that you come home to. 00:28:15.119 --> 00:28:17.440 Okay, that's a little stalkery right there. 00:28:18.079 --> 00:28:19.279 Agreed, agreed. 00:28:19.839 --> 00:28:20.160 Okay. 00:28:20.480 --> 00:28:25.759 If you become a tree, said the little bunny, I will become a little sailboat and I will sail away from you. 00:28:26.000 --> 00:28:32.000 If you become a sailboat and sail away from me, said his mother, I will become the wind and blow you to where I want you to go. 00:28:34.400 --> 00:28:40.960 If you become the wind and blow me, said the little bunny, I will join a circus and fly away on a flying trapeze. 00:28:41.359 --> 00:28:47.680 If you go flying on a flying trapeze, said his mother, I will be a tightrope walker and I will walk across the air to you. 00:28:50.559 --> 00:28:56.480 If you become a tightrope walker and walk across the air, said the bunny, I will become a little boy and run into a house. 00:28:57.200 --> 00:29:03.920 If you become a little boy and run into a house, that is mother bunny, I will become your mother and catch you in my arms and hug you. 00:29:06.960 --> 00:29:08.559 Shocks, said the bunny. 00:29:08.640 --> 00:29:11.440 I may as well just stay where I am and be your little bunny. 00:29:12.240 --> 00:29:13.359 And so he did. 00:29:13.599 --> 00:29:15.920 Have a carrot, said the mother bunny. 00:29:16.559 --> 00:29:19.279 Um, and they then that is where they stay. 00:29:19.759 --> 00:29:28.240 This image of the God who's always pursuing us, his goodness and loving kindness is comes after us and chases us. 00:29:28.400 --> 00:29:35.680 That's Psalm 23, all the days of our life from before is the same God who hemms us in before us, behind us, by us. 00:29:35.839 --> 00:29:39.759 We are never outside of his care and his concern for us. 00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:50.079 And so once our true identity and purpose are found in Christ and not in the things of the world, we can have our lives be hidden in God, in that safety and security. 00:29:50.240 --> 00:30:03.680 Colossians 3.3 tells us, for you have died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God, our real life, the life that is eternal, the life that is always protected and safe. 00:30:03.920 --> 00:30:06.319 So, you know, we hide things that are valuable, right? 00:30:06.480 --> 00:30:12.240 Um, our jewelry, our passports, money, um, and we want to make sure that those things are protected and safe. 00:30:12.559 --> 00:30:14.160 This is how God regards us. 00:30:14.319 --> 00:30:16.400 We are so infinitely precious to Him. 00:30:16.640 --> 00:30:20.319 He protects us, He saves us, He embraces us. 00:30:21.119 --> 00:30:41.440 Early on when I was working as a pastor, a spiritual mentor told me that if I'm gonna stay in vocational ministry for a long time, that I needed to make sure that I protect that hidden life with Jesus, that it wouldn't be turned into every sermon, it wouldn't be a teaching moment, it wouldn't be all the things, but rather that I protect this core, core piece of it. 00:30:41.759 --> 00:30:46.559 And I think that is not just true for people in vocational ministry, it's true for all of us. 00:30:46.799 --> 00:31:00.960 We need to protect that core, still small place, an intimate space that's just you and Jesus communing together and allowing God to work with us in that space, to root our identity in who he is and not what we have done. 00:31:01.279 --> 00:31:04.960 It's letting his grace speak louder than any sin or shame. 00:31:05.119 --> 00:31:09.039 And that's why we sing amazing grace because it really is indeed amazing. 00:31:09.519 --> 00:31:14.799 So this morning, the question before you that God is asking is where are you? 00:31:16.000 --> 00:31:21.200 Child of God, would you stop hiding from him and instead choose to hide in him? 00:31:22.960 --> 00:31:32.000 The good news of the gospel invites you to hide your life, your heart, your will, your treasures, all of it, your future in Christ alone. 00:31:32.160 --> 00:31:36.880 Because in his presence is the fullness of joy, the life that is truly life. 00:31:37.039 --> 00:31:46.960 So I invite you to accept his invitation to dwell in his hiding place, where you are fully known, fully seen, fully accepted, fully loved, and fully at rest. 00:31:48.000 --> 00:31:54.000 On the tables outside, um Evita and her team prepared these lovely cards right outside there. 00:31:54.079 --> 00:32:01.440 And it has um four verses behind it from Psalm 139, and it says, Let Jesus Christ be your hiding place now and forevermore. 00:32:01.599 --> 00:32:10.559 And I invite you to pick up one of these just to put it, you know, somewhere where you'd see it this week, so that you'd be reminded that God wants to be your hiding place and he is safe. 00:32:10.799 --> 00:32:11.839 He's always safe. 00:32:11.920 --> 00:32:13.839 There's no need to ever hide from him. 00:32:14.079 --> 00:32:16.799 So let him be your hiding place. 00:32:17.039 --> 00:32:18.400 And let's pray. 00:32:20.319 --> 00:32:23.519 Oh Lord God, thank you for your invitation. 00:32:23.839 --> 00:32:28.559 Thank you that you are our hiding place, that you've chosen to be with your people. 00:32:28.960 --> 00:32:31.200 And God, I ask for each person here. 00:32:31.599 --> 00:32:33.920 You know what is in their hearts, you know what they need. 00:32:34.079 --> 00:32:37.839 God, if they need to confess something, I pray that you would lead them to do that. 00:32:38.000 --> 00:32:41.680 If they need to repent, that you would lead them through conviction for that. 00:32:41.839 --> 00:32:49.599 If they need to be made aware of something that they can't see in themselves, I pray you would bring that about so that there's no separation in their relationship with you. 00:32:49.839 --> 00:32:58.880 Pray, God, that by your spirit you would give us courage to come out of hiding, to enter your marvelous light, to embrace what you have for us fully. 00:32:59.119 --> 00:33:03.680 May we trust you more, may we love you more, may we follow you more closely. 00:33:03.920 --> 00:33:11.440 May we live in the power and the presence of Jesus Christ, God, in the person and the power that He offers us. 00:33:11.759 --> 00:33:24.480 May we be people who just exude that presence and that spills out to everyone around us, God, to be a conveyor of love and goodness and joy just as you feel that in us, Lord. 00:33:24.559 --> 00:33:25.920 Um, so God, thank you. 00:33:26.079 --> 00:33:27.680 Thank you for your invitation, God. 00:33:27.759 --> 00:33:28.640 We accept it. 00:33:28.799 --> 00:33:37.359 And I pray you would meet each of us this week in your way as only you can, and may we be alert to your presence and your experiences with you. 00:33:37.519 --> 00:33:40.480 God, we want to be part of whatever it is you're doing in our lives. 00:33:40.720 --> 00:33:45.279 So, God, we give ourselves over to you and ask for your help in all that we do. 00:33:45.440 --> 00:33:46.640 In Christ's name we pray. 00:33:46.880 --> 00:33:47.519 Amen. 00:33:51.359 --> 00:33:53.599 We hope you are blessed by this message. 00:33:53.839 --> 00:33:58.240 Please subscribe to our podcast for access to every episode as they're uploaded. 00:33:58.400 --> 00:34:00.480 And hey, we'd love to connect with you. 00:34:00.640 --> 00:34:06.559 Take a next step by 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