So often, the things that trend on Twitter baffle me. As I write this post, #makeabandsmaller is the most popular topic of discussion in the Detroit area, where I live. I took a peek at what people are so fascinated with. Not too surprising, the talk is of bands, like the Beatles and One Direction. I quickly figured out, however, that the point is to belittle these and other big-name groups. In some way, poke fun at bands as you downsize them. For instance, someone tweeted “#makeabandsmaller Shrink Floyd” and someone else wrote “#makeabandsmaller The Wee Gees.” I get it. At best, be creative and have fun. But honestly, as much as I like to stretch my own creative muscle, I am not the least bit interested in spending my time on figuring out how to #makeabandsmaller.
What really caught my interest on Twitter happened early, 7:00 a.m., yesterday morning. “But the Lord” was trending. How cool is that?! God wasn’t at the top of the list, but He had made it into the top ten. There were inspirational posts and pictures and I soaked in the uplifting messages for a while. Then, I went straight to the Bible to find the first occurrence of “But the Lord.”
Genesis 3:9 says, “But the Lord God called to the man, ‘Where are you?’” Can you guess what was happening just before God spoke those words? We’re reading from the beginning book of the Bible, so there . . . you have a big clue.
At this point, we see that God has created the heavens and earth, man and woman, everything. He’s commanded one thing of Adam and Eve: “You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” One rule with big consequences; one rule which proves to be impossible to follow. Adam and Eve fail and find themselves naked and afraid. If you’re familiar with Discovery Channel’s show, “Naked and Afraid,” then you’re aware of how brutal those circumstances are. Adam and Eve try to hide from God among the trees of the Garden of Eden.
Foolish, foolish people. They did not seem to understand that there was no hiding from God. He saw them completely—in all their glory, and with all their blemishes. Summoning up courage, Adam and Eve answered God’s call and told Him of the wrongs they had committed.
God had every right to chastise them for their sins. In fact, He could have taken everything from them. But even after cursing the pair for their disobedience, the Lord still provided for them. He “made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.”
This story tells me that no matter how lost we may seem and no matter how far from God we may feel, He’s out searching for us. Our problem is that if we keep hiding from Him while He’s imploring “Where are you?!” we may never feel the peace and comfort of His Love.
Maybe someday, The Lord will be trending at the very top of our lists.
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