No Matter What, Don't Hide - My Daughter's First Bible

Genesis 3.10

He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

You probably don’t know that you’re naked. You are perfectly content rolling around on the bed fully clothed in your nothing but beautiful birthday suit. Now. But there will come a day when you realize you are naked. We all are. We are born into nakedness in our sin nature.

Even though God loves you in your nakedness, completely, eventually we all realize our sin. And we stitch clothes to cover it. We hide. We lie. Like Adam and Eve, we find leaves of clothes or work or passions or the silence of our heart to mask it. To slip behind a tree and hide from God again.

So my second lesson for you, my daughter, is don’t hide from God. Don’t hide from Daddy. Don’t hide from your future husband. Or close friends. Or family. When you are faced with your sin, tell us. Tell Him. Run into your Father’s arms again.

The Bible says,

“Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.” Prov. 23.18

David said,

“Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.’ And you forgave the guilt of my sin.” Psalm 32.5

David didn’t run. He was a man after God’s own heart. He knew the consequences of hiding sin. But many people, because they want to look good in front of others or pretend they haven’t sinned to God and continue doing it, don’t tell. They keep it secret.

They think that if they just confess to God, it’s okay. But they don’t understand confession. True confession involves telling other people, people who can help you stay strong and not slip into sin. It takes an incredible weight off. Yet packaged in only a little fig leaf.

David chose to please God’s heart. He sinned in ways you wouldn’t believe, but when confronted he ran to God, not away. He confessed. He didn’t silence those who knew or try to save his image. He repented. He changed.

God loves you so much, beautiful. Daddy loves you more than I can say. I desire with all my heart that you would be a woman after God’s heart. A woman who never hides from Him. One who, when hurt and vulnerable, runs to God and tells. One who takes the mask off, one fig leaf at a time, steps from behind the tree, and lets God love you again. Naked.

That’s where true healing comes. That’s where the only healing comes. Even in the gospel, God brings us back to that original relationship of walking in the garden with him again before sin. Before hiding. Brings us back to where nothing matters but God and being totally loved and accepted by him — because you are. God loves you SO much; his grace is deep, incomprehensible, unfathomable, and it covers everything. Now and forever. Without leaves. I promise.