The silence on the other end of the phone was deafening, yet so heavy that it sunk like a rock in my stomach.

Where are you? I wondered.

Of course I knew where he was. I could have pin pointed his location within a few feet using the Find My iPhone app. Although he was states away, I had always felt what he was feeling. I knew what he was thinking before he said it. A breath would tell me stories. We were connected in a way that one rarely experiences in life. I loved him entirely. We were planning the rest of our lives.

But this phone call was different. The man I knew and loved was so far away.

Where are you?

“I’m afraid…” He said. Afraid of hurting and being hurt. Afraid of vulnerability. And with those words, he turned around and walked away.

Fear is the great divider; it has been since sin entered the world.

This very similar scenario, recorded in Scripture, appears in Genesis chapter 3.

God called out to Adam and Eve, ready for their evening stroll through the gardens, “Where are you?” The first question ever recorded. Where. are. you.

Of course God knew where Adam and Eve were. He didn’t even need an app on His iPhone. He knew. And He knew why they were hiding.

“I was afraid.” Adam said.

Adam and Eve had disobeyed God. They were afraid. Realizing the depth of their vulnerability, they felt the gap between themselves and Him, so they hid. Their eyes were opened, as God promised, and what they saw was that they were not worthy.

God has spent the duration of human history asking His people the same question, “Where are you?” He chases after those He loves because despite being unworthy, He chooses them. They are His, and He longs to give them life.

Several thousand years later, a man who had been called to speak for God in a time when most didn’t have ears to hear, began to promise God was coming for His people.

Isaiah 52:6 says, “Therefore My people will know My name; therefore they will know on that day that I am He who says: Here I am.” In Isaiah 65:1, God says, “I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me. To a nation that did not call on my name, I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.’”

In this ultimate game of Hide and Seek, God is both seeking and being found. He desires so much for us to know Him, that He comes for us. He asks, “Where are you?” and simultaneously says, “Here I am.”

It’s difficult to grasp the depth of this phrase. God’s name, Yahweh, is directly translated “I am.” He is the God of presence. He is the God who is with. He is the God who lives among His people.

God did come. He appeared as a vulnerable child, requiring young, sinful parents to meet His every need. They were tasked to teach the Creator and sustainer of the universe how to walk, talk, and eat with utensils. He came for His people. He appeared to them and made Himself known. When we were hiding from Him, He showed up for us, in our likeness, He became Emmanuel, God with us.

The Gospel of John records Jesus’ famous “I am” statements, but the eighth is consequential. So much so, that His life was threatened for it. Jesus simply said, “Before Abraham was, I am.” The Jews recognized this immediately as a claim to deity. Before Abraham existed, the great patriarch of their nation, Jesus existed. He is, in the present tense. He claims His presence.

After Jesus’ death, at the time of His ascension, He promised them that if He left, He would send the Helper to them. Ten days later, on Pentecost, the Holy Spirit did fall on them. They received the indwelling of God. Now every follower has the presence of God’s Spirit with them constantly. He is ever present, guiding, counseling, and speaking to His people.

In Acts 17, on a missionary journey, Paul speaks to the Athenians:

“From one man He has made every nationality to live over the whole earth and has determined their appointed times and the boundaries of where they live. He did this so that they might seek God, and perhaps they might reach out and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us. For in Him we live and move and exist.”

Yahweh, He is both the seeker and the found.

God has been calling out to each of us, “Where are you?” Our fear of vulnerability and exposure has divided us from the One who truly loves us. Desiring to be with us, and knowing that we were unable to seek Him out ourselves, He came for us. He says to you and me, “Here I am.”

Will you reach out for Him? Will you turn to Him and accept His very presence in your life? He longs for you. He is coming yet again, but this time as a warrior. He is coming to redeem what sin destroyed. This is the hope that we have. God is coming for us. He is always coming for us.