BP 194
Sin leads people to hide—usually—unless their hearts have fled so far from the righteous God that they take pride in their sin and choose to flaunt it. Flaunting sin is never a good thing because it is a sure sign that someone is in open defiance against God.
Sin leads people to hide when they sin because they experience shame and because they want darkness to cover their disobedience. Do you remember what Adam and Eve did after they sinned? The account is recorded in Genesis 3:
6So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.
8And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.”
Before Adam and Eve sinned, Genesis 2:25 states about them, “and the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.” But after they rebelled against God and sinned, they experienced an unprecedented self-conscious awareness that they were naked. They tried to hide their nakedness physically with a covering of fig leaves and spiritually by hiding from God’s presence.
Why were Adam and Eve aware of their nakedness? It’s a complicated development, but generally speaking, they had broken their covenant of love and trust with God, and they no longer experienced the freedom and peace to approach Him but instead were filled with the anxiety and fear that are a hallmark of separation from God.
Why do you think we are such an anxious people?
The first man and woman devolved from obedient to disobedient children. They were no longer submissive to God, but rebels opposed to Him. Instead of the joy that comes from obedience, they experienced the shame and dread of being out of relationship, separate, and no longer God’s people. They were alienated from God, others, and even the perfect self God had created them to be.
An awareness of their nakedness was an outward sign of their inward sinfulness and separation from their loving Creator.
A huge chasm now yawned between who Adam and Eve had been made by God to be and who they now had become as sinners who had transgressed God’s stated boundary–His commandment. Their identity had changed. They were no longer perfect in nature or perfectly related to God, each other, or their own body. Everything had changed.
Light had become darkness. Running toward God had become running away from God.
Shame had been conceived—a godly shame, not a false shame—because they were no longer who they ought to be, who they were in their original created state. So, they felt bad, exposed, less than they should be—and they attempted to hide who they had become from God and each other.
Ever since Adam and Eve put on those fig leaves and attempted to hide from God, we humans have been born into this world with a sinner’s identity and so we hide. We are not transparent like Adam and Eve before their rebellion against God but are like them after they disobeyed God. We naturally lie, blame, deny—all to avoid being seen because of our innate sin nature and subsequent sinful behavior that spawns badness, shame, guilt, and a sense of moral nakedness.
So, there is a big problem here. God made us to be in perfect relationship with Him and others, but how can even a marginally intimate relationship develop if we hide from God and one another?
Fortunately, God gave us (at least) three ways to be seen and known: we can be known through our honest words (mind), our emotions (heart/soul), and through our body. God gave us these three mediums by which to be known not only by Him but by other humans and by our own selves. We cannot be in healthy relationships on any of these three levels if we are unable or unwilling to communicate who we are.
Once again, the problem is that we are born to hide. We often hide our honest communication by uttering false or misleading words so that we are not truly known. Fortunately, God has left us with the two other channels of communication, namely, our emotions and our bodies.
But what if we cover up both our minds and hearts with fig leaves to hide who we are from others or to escape the shame of the things we have done?
Witness what David says in Psalm 32 concerning the specific event of hiding his sin from God and others and himself:
“1Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
2 Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
3 For when I kept silent [hid my sin in my mind and in my heart], my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was dried up[b] as by the heat of summer. Selah
5 I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,’
and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah
6 Therefore let everyone who is godly
offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found;
surely in the rush of great waters,
they shall not reach him.
7 You are a hiding place for me;
you preserve me from trouble;
you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah.”
Here we have an example of what happens when we hide our minds (in this case, our confessions) and our emotions: like David, our bodies will begin to speak or even shout as the third medium that God has created in humans to prevent us from sealing ourselves in the sepulcher of our own selves. God wants to expose you when you hide because He knows that hiding never leads to anything good.
Remember what God’s word says in Ephesians 5: “13But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, 14for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,
“Awake, O sleeper,
and arise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”
Hiding things leads to death. When God exposes you, it will lead to light and shining.
The main application of today’s post is to challenge you to look at the three windows through which God has made you to be seen and known. My specific question for you relative to these three windows is this: is your body speaking to you right now because you have hidden your honest words and the truthful emotions of your heart (and soul) because of shame or some other fear or lie from Satan that prompts you to hide?
What are some examples of these lies? “You’re a burden,” or “you’re too much for others,” or “if people knew that about you, they would look down on you or leave you,” or “you have never been chosen and never will be so don’t expect anything from other,” etc.
Son or daughter, is your body speaking because you are hiding inside of it alone, cut off from God and others? Our bodies can speak when we intentionally cut ourselves, even through headaches, joint pain, muscle tightness, stomach aches, panic attacks, tingling fingers, and many other ways as well.
Obviously, rule out other causes first, but know that sometimes physical symptoms are your body’s way of speaking when you have no words and your emotions are strangled in your throat.
God wants you to be seen and known. He desires for you to come to Him and be honest, even about your sin and shame. He has a heart (Jeremiah 31:20), and He wants your heart to feel the emotions that will create intimacy between you and Him, between you and safe others, even between you and your own heart.
So, child of God, don’t run and hide. Run toward and be known. Don’t let your body do the talking for you which can lead to immense physical pain. Rather, speak words from your mind and emotions and godly desires from your heart and soul. Will it be embarrassing to speak some secret things or to feel certain strong emotions? Certainly. So why be seen when it will be so uncomfortable?
How can you love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength if you are divorced from your heart, soul, and mind? You need access to all these parts of yourself in order to love God and others. So, open up all of you and move toward God and safe others.
You were not made to hide, to be alone. You were created by a relational God who says, “Come.”
“Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he my darling child? For as often as I speak against him, I do remember him still. Therefore, my heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, declares the Lord” ~ Jeremiah 31:20
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account” ~ Hebrews 4:12-13
“1 O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
3 You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
5 You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it . . .
7 Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?” ~ Psalm 139:1ff