WHERE ARE YOU?
And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”(GEN3:8-9) This personal and pointed question is the first one noted that God ever asked of man, and it is the first question He puts to individual men and women today. It simply means, ‘How do you stand before God and in the light of eternity? What is your spiritual condition?’ The circumstances and the fact that it is God Himself who asks the question makes it vitally important that we face up to it, and answer it honestly. Where are you?

 Genesis 3:8–24 describes Adam and Eve have sinned against God. In disobedience to His command, they have eaten from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. They faced consequence of their sin. After falling to temptation, humans are ashamed and foolishly attempt to hide from God. When confronted with their sin, instead of confess, they attempt to shift the blame to others. Adam even blames God. They moved from being innocently naked, we see their shame and guilt drives them to hide from God. It is one of the greatest consequences of sin was the loss of those face-to-face moments with the Creator. Instead of enjoying His presence, Adam's and Eve's first instinct was to hide from Him. Sin always separates men from God. In response, mankind can no longer stay in the Garden of Eden, earthly paradise and is banished.  They became mortal, and worldly. Their sin has broken their intimate relationship with Him.

 Bible tell us how man was created; and the same God who created us is the One who sustains us, cares for us, watches over us and supplies our needs, and He asks, “Where are you?” Are you hiding, afraid of God, because of sin in your life? Maybe you’re trying to cover your sin with the fig leaves of your good works. Perhaps, like Jonah, you are one of God’s children, and yet you are running from His purpose for your life. You have sin you have not confessed to Him. Your guilt may make you think that God is after you to punish you. Bible says that God is after you to save you from the judgment your sin deserves. He is graciously calling, “Where are you?” If you will come to Him and confess your sin, He will deliver you from Satan’s domain of darkness and transfer you to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom you will have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.(COL1:13-14) That’s how to deal with your guilt and failures.

 In Psalm 139:7, King David reminds us of the greatness of God when he asks the Lord, where can I flee from Your presence? The expected answer is “nowhere,” for there is no place in all of creation where the Lord is not at hand.   (v. 8–12) Because He is everywhere present, there is no hiding from our Creator God. Make no mistake about it: God knows exactly where you are! Adam and Eve foolishly imagined their Creator would not find them out. Many assume God is blind to our wickedness vainly. Our natural inclination to offend God blunts any hint of this reality. Sin not only defects the soul, it also has intellectual effects—it renders us unable to honor or give thanks to God.(ROM1:21) God has made Himself enough to mankind that nobody has an excuse for ignoring Him. We make a willful choice to ignore His hallmarks in creation that surrounds us every day. In other words, we reject Him as Creator leads to a refusal to honor or give thanks to God. We must realize denials are a test of our faith and obedience. May God enable us to praise Him for those things which He forbids, and trust Him for those things which we need and He promises to provide.

If we do not understand God as creator and provider who must be worshiped, we cannot arrive at a right understanding of how the universe works. Our thinking about everything is futile, leads to wrong conclusions, eventually, to darkened hearts. That conclusion often leads to hopelessness and negativism: the belief that life is meaningless. Everything we end up believing is based on wrong assumptions about the universe and our place in it. God Almighty was giving Adam an opportunity to confess his sin; the Lord knew Adam and Eve had violated God’s law that they were hiding among the trees. Either we will harden ourselves against the God’s voice or we will respond to it with faith/obedience. According to His plan and purpose turn to Him in repentance. Let us in faith, always be first to heed the word of God.
Soul searching means evaluating how you are feeling and what is important to you. Deep thought is only possible by minimizing distractions and spending time with yourself. In order to soul search, take a day of fasting and prayer. Plan readings from Bible, thanksgivings and praise to God. Bible presents us some soul searching and challenging questions:

 John, chapter 21, Jesus asks Peter 3 times, " Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?”
Matthew, chapter 16, Jesus ask disciples, ". . . He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
 Ezekiel 37:3, the Lord ask Ezekiel, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
1 King 19:9 and in verse, 13, the Lord asks Elijah, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
Genesis 21:17, the Lord speaking to Hagar asks, “What is the matter, Hagar?

All of these questions have the purpose stimulating us into action, into challenging us to move ahead with purpose, to do some soul searching. The most profound question asked in the Bible is found in Genesis, 3:9 where we find Adam and Eve no longer in God's presence because Adam had turned away from Him. They had eaten the forbidden fruit, hiding from God in the Garden. it says: And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, “Where are you?”  The Lord asked the questions so that Adam might know where he was in His relationship with His Lord, spiritually.