And God Asked Adam and Eve …

Where are you?

As I walked another circle on The Third Path, those three words gave me pause.

To quote Joyce Meyer, “I’m not where I want to be. But thank God, I’m not where I was.” I love that idea, but I realized it doesn’t fully answer God’s question to Adam and Eve … His question to me. Because “Where are you?” is filled with my favorite writerly tool in the tool box: subtext.

There are two questions being asked here: where are you, physically; and where are you, spiritually?

Where am I physically … in my actual location … in my relationships? Am I content? Am I like Adam and Eve, filled with shame? Or do I merely sense that all is not as it could be and want more?

I am content yes, but there are things I long to change. Places I want to be. Relationships I want to have. But if I’m going with God as I previously decided, shouldn’t I trust Him to move me in due season?

Then there’s the deeper question.

Where am I spiritually … am I growing in my relationship with God … becoming more like Jesus? It’s a goal I can never fully reach on this side of heaven, yet as Paul says, it is something to constantly strive to meet. That upward call of Christ. But how do I run such a race & not grow weary of never seeing the full reward here?

Perhaps the real answer to the question, “Where are you?” is the most simple & yet most complex of all: I am in faith.

We all want to “help” God out. Giving Him suggestions for what we think is a good next step, or even a full life plan. But He sees the end from the beginning. We do not.

I often think of it like me and my dog while we’re on a walk. She is happily following her nose, unaware of the car coming around the bend, the sprinklers that rotate into her path, or the clouds above with their threat of storms. But I am aware of it all & their impacts on her. And even when she looks at me without understanding why I hold her leash taut or she pulls one way when I’m leading her another, I know on some level she has faith that I am doing what is best for her.

Can I say the same for myself with God?

Where am I? I am in faith.

And you?