Where Can I Hide?
Jonah 1
A MINISTER started out one summer day to visit some of the members of his church that he had not seen for awhile. As he approached one of the houses, he noticed that the TV was on and it appeared that someone was home.
But, even though he knocked on the door several times no one came to the door to acknowledge him. At this point, he thought he would be clever and leave a note on the door that stated just one verse, Revelation 3:20 which says,
“Here I am!
I stand at the door and knock.
If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me."
After putting the note on the door, the minister, feeling very pleased with himself, smiled and left to visit other members.
He returned to that first house later in the day to see if they got his note, and was surprised see a new note hanging on the door.
As he got closer, he noticed this new note had the verse Genesis 3:10 written on it which says,
“I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.”
Our sermon this morning is for anyone who has tried to slip into the shadows, convinced that secrecy will protect them from judgment, shame, or the consequences of their choices.
God’s response is not a cold searchlight but a steady pursuit that calls us back into the light.
The first instance of hiding occurs in the Garden of Eden.
Genesis 3
6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.
7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.
8 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.
9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”
10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.”
11 And God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”
We Know that God certainly knew the answer to this question!
After disobeying God by eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, Adam and Eve realized their nakedness and hid from God among the trees out of shame and fear This act symbolizes the broken relationship between humanity and God due to sin and highlights the natural human response to guilt.
Moses attempted to hide indirectly after killing an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew. Fearing Pharaoh’s wrath, he hid the body in the sand and fled to Midian (Exodus 2:14-15).
11 Now it came about in those days, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his fellow Hebrews and looked at their hard labors; and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his fellow Hebrews.
12 So he looked this way and that, and when he saw that there was no one around, he struck and killed the Egyptian, and hid his body in the sand.
13 Now he went out the next day, and behold, two Hebrews were fighting with each other; and he said to the offender, “Why are you striking your companion?”
14 But he said, “Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and said, “Surely the matter has become known!”
15 When Pharaoh heard about this matter, he tried to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the presence of Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well.
While this was more about escaping human justice, it also reflects a moment of fear and avoidance before God called him to lead Israel, showing that hiding can precede divine preparation and transformation.
Then there is Jonah who represents a different form of hiding — attempting to escape God’s calling. God commanded him to go to Nineveh to preach repentance, but Jonah fled in the opposite direction, boarding a ship to avoid fulfilling God’s mission. His story illustrates that one cannot truly escape God’s presence or purpose, as God pursued him through the storm and the great fish.
Jonah 1
1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.”
3 But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So, he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.
4 But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up.
5 Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to God.
Now drop down to verse 10
10 Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, “What is this that you have done!” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.
Verse 15
15 So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging.
16 Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.
17 And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
This led Jonah to come to this realization we find in Jonah 2
7 When my life was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple.
8 Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love.
9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord!”
10 And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.
The result is found in Jonah 3
1Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying,
2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.”
3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord.
Verse 6
6 The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
7 And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water,
8 but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands.
9 Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.”
10 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.
These narratives convey that while humans may attempt to hide from God due to fear, guilt, or disobedience, BUT God’s omnipresence ensures that hiding is ultimately futile (Proverbs 15:3).
"The eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good"
These stories also emphasize the importance of confronting sin, accepting responsibility, and responding to God’s calling rather than avoiding it.
Psalm 139 reminds us that God knows our paths and our resting places.
1 O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.
3 You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
5 You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.
7 Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
9 If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,”
12 even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.
13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!
24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!
I would like to make 3 POINTS about MAN’s ATTEMPT to HIDE from GOD:
#1) Human attempts to hide are always partial.
We can close doors, change routines, and craft stories, but nothing we do removes us from God’s sight.
• The first humans tried to hide among the trees;
• Jonah boarded a ship;
• the prodigal son left home.
In each of these cases, the attempt to disappear only deepened the need for God’s intervention.
Hiding may delay consequences, but it cannot erase the reality of what has been done or the longing in our souls for reconciliation.
Point #2) God’s Pursuit Is Tender, God does not play hide-and-seek to shame us;
He seeks to restore us.
We need to realize that when Adam and Eve hid, God called.
When the prodigal returned, the father ran.
God’s pursuit meets us where we are — often in our mess — and offers a way back through grace.
Point #3) Being found by God often brings conviction, not condemnation.
Conviction is the Spirit’s gentle, persistent light showing us what needs to change. Confession is the honest response that opens the door to forgiveness. Hiding keeps us in isolation; confession brings us into community and into the transforming presence of God.
The path from hiding to healing runs through truth spoken aloud and repentance lived out.
If you are trying to hide today, know that God already knows.
You are not beyond His reach. Start with a single honest prayer: tell God the truth.
Let the church be a place where light replaces shame.
May we be the safe place where someone can open up and step into the light.
Please bow with me in prayer at this time
Lord, you see us.
You see the corners we avoid,
the stories we tell ourselves,
the ways we try to disappear.
Meet us in our hiding places.
Give us courage to speak the truth,
humility to receive your forgiveness,
and strength to walk in the freedom you offer.
Turn our shame into testimony
and our hiding into honest fellowship.
It is in Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
May we live with the assurance that nothing can separate us from God’s presence.
May we walk in the light of His love, confess what needs confessing, and live in the freedom of a God who pursues, forgives, and restores.
