Understanding God: He Keeps in Touch Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of…
Understanding God: He Keeps in Touch
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. – Genesis 3:8 (New International Version)
In continuation of our exploration of the nature and personality of God, another insight derived from our reference passage is that He keeps in touch. He does not just set up and leave or commission and then go awol. No, He maintains contact and relationship with His creatures.
The passage we are meditating on today shows us how God sought out Adam and Eve by visiting them in the garden in the cool of the day. There is something about this scenario that suggests that the visit was neither a one-off thing nor an extraordinary one. God must have been regularly visiting the couple before to fellowship with them, since that was one of the reasons He created them in the first place (Revelation 4:11).
This aspect of God should help us to better appreciate the fact that He is even closer to us than we can imagine. The fact that Adam and Eve erred and that created a vacuum between them and God does not mean that God then isolated Himself totally from them or from their descendants after them. If He did, we would not have read about His various encounters and interactions with other individuals and peoples in the Bible. That is one reason.
Therefore, even when humans fell and kept failing Him, God did not abandon them altogether. He was always scouting the length and breadth of the earth to see who He could relate with, offer help to and come through for (2 Chronicles 16:9). The secret to connecting Him when He passes by is to have a pure heart, as that is what He is always scanning to know those ready to house Him.
Secondly, the fact that God later sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to come to the earth to complete the project of reconciling humanity to Himself, this time on a very large scale, shows how much God values connecting with humans and relating with them.
Now, isn’t it interesting to know that God truly values a relationship with us? The fact that we may not see Him in physical form does not negate His existence, reduce His ubiquity or lessen the intensity of His desire to connect.
Indeed, the scriptures and history are replete with the accounts of those who have been able access and form a bond with Him. Those whom He Himself personally called because He had special needs for them, or those who really desired a relationship with Him and paid the price for having it through personal devotion and their life choices. Those to whom His invitation that “you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13) meant more than mere words to. The question is, are you one of them?
Understanding God: God of Sustenance …In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, before any plant of the field was in the earth and before…
Understanding God: God of Sustenance
…In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground; but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground. – Genesis 2:4-6
Today, as we continue our exploration of the personality and nature of God, another of His attributes that we shall dwell on today is sustenance. He is a God of sustenance. He sustains everything and everyone.
From the passage above, we see that before rain started to fall on the earth God had a system in place that would sustain the earth. Even with all the civilizations we have around today, imagine what the earth would have been like without rain, not to talk of the prehistoric times when the earth had not been broken and domesticated by humans. It would have been impossible for life to survive on a parched and unstructured earth. Worse, the earth itself would have caved in and self-destruct without something to keep it moistened.
However, God being ever so thoughtful, methodical in His ways, and with such immense foresight, knew that He needed to have an organism in place to keep the earth wet, and thereby keep it sustained. What did He do? He caused the earth to generate mist from itself in order to wet itself. As simplistic as that sounds, it is an awesome thing to do and another testament to the omniscient power of God.
In other words, God while creating the earth also created the capacity for the earth to sustain itself. The same way He made plants and other living creatures “whose seed is in itself according to its kind” (Genesis 1:11-12) to be self-sustaining. The same way He also made we humans. Our capacity for sustenance however is not because of a random or unexplainable biological configuration. It is God who made us so. He is the One who wired us, an intricate unity, to be self-sustaining.
The Bible says, “the desire of every living thing” is satisfied by God (Psalm 145:16) and He “gives food to all flesh” (Psalm 136:25). That means whatever capacity we have to work for means of livelihood is an endowment from God. Therefore, it is “not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient…” (2 Corinthians 3:5-6).
God is the sustainer of all. Sustenance is one of the social pacts He is sworn by duty to all His creatures, man and beast, believer and non-believer, old and young.
Another lesson we can learn from God is His disposition to a balancing act. He is not a God of extremes. Even though some who profess to follow Him go to extremes in His name or make extreme claims on His behalf, extreme is not a label that one can pin on God. He balances the acts.
Understanding God: He is Not Moved by Sentiments
Another lesson we can learn from the personality of God is that sentiments do not move Him. Therefore, He cannot be deceived into making a wrong judgment or call, as humans tend to do.
Understanding God: He is A Creator
He is a Creator. This is not to be interpreted loosely, particularly in the light of our contemporary use of the word. God is the ultimate Creator, as He created all things, even the ends of the earth (Isaiah 40:28).
Understanding God: God of the Beginning
There is no better way to begin this journey of exploring the people and entities in the Bible than to start with God. He is not just the beginning but is the origin of all things.
Women in the Bible: A Paragon of Beauty
What made Sarah’s beauty so compelling that kings and nations took notice? Explore the deeper layers of grace, favour, and mystery surrounding one of Scripture’s most unforgettable women — and discover why her story still provokes wonder today.
Men in the Bible: A Man of Ambition and Adventure
Terah may not have reached Canaan, but his courage to start a life-changing journey laid the foundation for Abraham’s destiny. Discover how ambition and bold steps mark a life of significance.
Men in the Bible: An Impetuous and Impudent Man
A revealing glimpse into a man whose choices exposed deeper issues of character, showing how hastiness and entitlement can quietly shape a destiny, and why his story still speaks to us today.
Men in the Bible: A Man with Little Foresight
Sometimes what looks like a smart choice can hide the seed of a mistake. This reflection from Scripture invites us to think again about how foresight — or the lack of it — shapes a man’s story.
Men in the Bible: The First Man to Tithe
Before laws, temples, or traditions, one man honoured God with his substance. Abraham’s tithe was not commanded, demanded, or enforced. It flowed from reverence.
Fathers in the Bible: A Destiny-Shaping Father
What makes a man a truly aware father? Discover how one man’s prophetic foresight shaped his son’s destiny and changed generations forever.
Add Daily Dew Devotional & Inspirational to your Homescreen!
