The Pursuit of a Loving Father

After Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, they hid from God when they heard him walking in the garden in the cool of the day (see Genesis 3:8). And after David sinned with the wife of one of his chief warriors and then arranged for the man to be killed in battle so he could marry that same woman, we see David retreat into himself. He refused to go to battle and hid in the palace instead. He had lost all his fight and was afraid to have to face God with unconfessed sin.

David never thought he had gotten away with sin; on the contrary, he was a very troubled, guilt-ridden man who wrote out of the anguish of his heart: “Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation” (Psalm 51:11-12). 

In the case of Adam and Eve and also David, God’s abundant blessings had been evident, yet sin entered in. They hid from God out of guilt but their loving Father pursued them out of his great love and brought them back into fellowship with him.

Likewise, if you are running from God because of unconfessed sin, he sees your agony and grieves over it. He takes no pleasure in seeing you in pain and he will make the first move to reconcile you to his heart. He may send somebody to rebuke and challenge you, as he sent the prophet Nathan to King David (see 2 Samuel 12:1-15), or he may use another means. But his love for you will not allow him to just sit by and let you go.

The mercy of God is completely beyond me! But when you are broken before him, even though there may be painful consequences to your sin, his grace enables you to come out of the shadows and renew your fellowship with him.