"WHERE ARE YOU?"

Genesis 3:9. But the Lord called to the man, "Where are you?"

"Where are you?"   Can you imagine the God of the universe, the creator of this world searching for you?  Does it sound even remotely possible?  Why would God search for me?  After all He's so important and He has so much important things to deal with, why would He take time to search for me? I mean I just don't get it.   It puzzles me yet really intrigues me to think that God is searching for me.   Could this question be real? Could God really be searching for me?  It really makes me pause and think.  How about you?   I imagine the reality of hearing the voice of God saying, "Debra, where are you?"  In a way that is a very comforting idea, the idea that God is searching for me means I must be important to Him.   On the other hand when I hear my name being called it sends me into fear, "What did I do wrong?  Why is God searching for me?"  How about you?

As I ponder the question, "Where are you Debra?" I become lost in a sea of the past.  My sins come flooding back, my past mistakes, my past regrets, my shortcomings, my failures all flood back like a title wave.   Every thing I have ever said or done that was wrong fills my mind to overflowing and my eyes with tears.  Then I stop for a moment and actually listen to the question again, "Where are you Debra?"  I realize He isn't asking me what I've done, because truthfully He already knows what I've done in my past.  He already knows all my sins, past, present and future.  He knows every mistake, every regret, every shortcoming and every failure.  He already knows every word I have spoken yet He still searches for me?  Really?  Let me be honest here....if God really knew all of this about me, if He really knew my past, then it doesn't make sense that He would be searching for me.

Do you feel this way also?  I don't think I'm the only one who feels that way, in fact I know I'm not.  How can I know that?  I've heard the stories, I've read the news, I'm on Facebook.  I see the pain in between the lines and hear the sheer despair in the voices of those pondering this question.  God is searching for you.   He's not looking to punish you, Jesus Christ already paid the price for your sins and failings.  He doesn't want to remind you of your painful past, He's already forgotten it because of what Jesus Christ did on the cross for you.  He's not searching you out to fill you with fear.  For many years growing up, this is what I thought, if God's searching for me, that's not a good sign.  I must be guilty of something.

Truth is I am guilty!   I am guilty of so many sins, so many mistakes, so many regrets, so many failures that they are to numerous to recall.   I find it very hard to believe that God would want to search for me because He loves me.   That just seems so unrealistic.  In fact it seems almost impossible.   As I sit here typing this I am simply undone and overwhelmed at the sheer possibility that God is searching for me.  The truth is He is searching for me.   That is my reality.  He searches for me every moment of every day.   He longs to be with me and talk with me and hold me and love me and dry every tear I have ever cried.  He wants a relationship with me.

God does not want to be put up on the mantle and stared at like some trophy.  He wants to know you. He wants to hear all about your fears and your failures.  He wants to know all about your day and then problems you face.   He wants to hear about what your needs are and what the desires of you heart are.  He wants to hear from you and me.   He wants to be your friend, your mentor and your daddy.  He wants a relationship and that is why He is searching for you. 

Right now there is a void, an emptiness, a longing for more.  There is a painful past searching to be healed.   There are thoughts running through your mind that there has to be more in life than this.   You search for meaning in your life through horoscopes, mediums, psychics, fortune tellers, and other gods all to no avail.  Let me be blunt here.   There is no other gods searching for you.   No new moon parties will ever fill the void in your heart.  God, the creator of the universe, is earching for you.   He's calling out to you, "Where are you?"   Will you answer?  Will you respond?