What if the God of heaven asked you, “where are you?”

Okay, maybe I am going too deep too fast. Maybe you’re in a place where you want to start therapy, but the thought of having a therapist ask you the question, “where are you?” is a bit frightening. Adam and Eve got this question, so let’s explore how they responded and how this question can help us enter into a counseling room with confidence. 

“But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”” Genesis 3:9-11 NIV

In a moment, shame and guilt filled the hearts of Adam and Eve; they went from connection with God, to disconnection from God; peace, and security, to worry and fear. I ponder Adam and Eve’s attachment style after a fall. Was God still loving, and did He still care about them? Yet still in their hiding, God, in the cool of the day, asks Adam and Eve, “Where are you?”

Where are you?

This question, “Where are you?”, had little to do with location and more to do with God wanting an explanation. God asked Adam this question to acquire a reason for why Adam and Eve were hiding in fear.

Then God asked a second question: “Who told you that you were naked?” This question was designed to draw a confession out of Adam and Eve, but as the story goes, Adam chose the blame game, and he passed the game to Eve, which Eve continued to play, and blamed the serpent. As we may know, God was not the only one asking questions during this time. The serpent was busy deceiving. This all started from the devil asking Eve questions. The devil’s question was an attack on God‘s character. His question raised doubt about who God was. It implied that God was holding something from Adam and Eve, as if God didn’t already give them His best. The serpent’s question sold Adam and Eve on a God dream; “divinity,” he said, “You’ll be like God knowing good and evil.” So they ate.

Within this story, we see fear, shame, and guilt causing Adam and Eve to retreat and hide from God. A loving relationship with God now became a distant one because of what they now carried. 

The stigmas within the counseling room

The counseling room is a safe place, but at first glance, it may not feel like that. This room can feel overwhelming at the thought of doing the real work to process through detrimental patterns and thinking. Like Adam and Eve, we oftentimes hide in guilt and shame, afraid to uncover parts of us we want no one to see or touch. In our coping mechanisms, we seek things that meet a temporary need but leave long-term effects. At this point, we have outgrown our coping mechanisms, and nothing seems to work. So we think to ourselves that therapy may be a good option, but getting into the room feels impossible. I get it, but I have good news for you! If you are considering counseling, you have already asked the question, “where am I?” to yourself. The next step is letting a counselor ask the question with you. 

Live uncovered

Before I ask, “where are you?” I want to ask what is keeping you from the counseling room? What fears are connected to asking yourself where you are? Adam and Eve covered up their nakedness to avoid God seeing them how they felt about themselves. I’ve learned that being naked before God is always better than man made clothes to cover up our shame and guilt. Living uncovered is a form of freedom. When we live naked or uncovered before God, we don’t shy away from the question, “where are you?” This question aims to locate the heart and soul, and how one is operating out of it. The counseling room aims to do the same thing. The question, “where are you?”  aims to draw you out. It’s an invitation to live uncovered and live how God sees you.

If you need help learning how to live life uncovered, any of the therapists on our staff would be more than happy to walk you through that journey! Give us a call today!

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Articles by our Optimum Joy Staff