Are You Present But Not Really?

Isn’t it true that often we are present but not really present? You know the scene. Husband and wife sitting together enjoying a quiet night at home. They are having a nice conversation yet one of them is actually far away, preoccupied with something else. Last week we sat near a couple at a restaurant who were both on their cell phones the entire time. They appeared to be present but not really present. We, or at least me, so often have things heavy on our hearts and minds that keep us from really being present in the moment. We are there but not there. Sadly, I am guilty of that more often than I would like to admit. My wife would be justified in asking me, “Where are you?”  

I believe if we are honest, the same can sometimes be said of our quiet times with God. I’ll make it personal. I sit down in my comfortable chair and open my Bible along with that day’s devotional materials. Or maybe instead of devotional time, it is simply a time of quietness and reflection. With so much clutter occupying space in my heart and mind, I am present (in that particular space) with God but not really present (undivided attention) with Him. I wonder if in those moments, He is asking me, “Where are you?”

In the opening pages of the Bible, in Genesis 3, we find the story of God asking that very question. Here is what we read in verses 8 and 9 – “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?’”

Adam and the woman (she had not yet been named Eve) had just eaten the forbidden fruit, causing them to go into hiding. I just love the image of God “walking in the garden in the cool of the day;” literally, in the early evening as a breeze was blowing through the garden. To me, the apparent tone of this passage implies that this was a regular thing; the three of them intimately walking together every evening. But on this particular evening, they failed to show up, they failed to be present, causing God to ask, “Where are you?” I do not see this question as an angry God, but rather, Him being saddened by their absence as He walked through the cool garden, damp grasses under His feet, birds chirping, and a gentle breeze cooling His face.    

So, today, as He asked on that evening in the garden, is God asking you the same question – Where are you? Are you present but not really?