We have a natural inclination to try to hide ourselves when we do something wrong. When children do something that they know is wrong, they tend to hide from their parents, teachers, and other authority figures. I don’t think that we outgrow this tendency as we get older. Criminals hide from the law, but we all don’t want to face the people that we have wronged.
Genesis 3:8-9 says, “And 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. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, ‘Where are you?'” God did not call out for Adam in order to find him. God knew what Adam had done and where he was. God called so that Adam could confess that he had turned away from God and had tried to hide himself from God. God was giving Adam the opportunity to come back to Him, as He always does for us when we turn away from Him. We can’t hide from God. He knows everything that we have done and even what we think. But He eagerly anticipates our return to Him through the confession of our wrongs and a heart of repentance.
Reluctant Retiree 