Result of Sin: Go into Hiding

Amanda Todd was found dead in her home in October of last year. A month earlier, she had posted a YouTube video about the malicious ways she had been bullied by people on Facebook. Unfortunately, Amanda is just one of the many tragic stories of cyber-bullying. Because bullies feel hidden and protected from behind their computer screen, they grow bolder in their cruelty.

Whether we’re in the act of doing something wrong or running from the wrong we’ve already committed, hiding is our natural reflex. Temptation thrives in dark, hidden places. To think that no one sees us emboldens us to do what we might not otherwise consider.

But the Bible clearly teaches that there is no place to hide from the presence of God. He sees all that we do, and He hears all that we say. Even our intentions and motives are not hidden from Him, and it is to Him that we will owe the ultimate account for our lives.

Knowledge of God’s omnipresence and omniscience can provoke two different reactions. First, it can be a source of consolation, as it was for the writer of Psalm 139. Knowing that God is always near can reassure us of His love and protection. On the other hand, if we’re fleeing from God as Jonah was in today’s reading, or as Adam and Eve did when they ate the forbidden fruit, we might be terrified at the thought of God’s seeing eye.

Jonah must have thought he had succeeded in escaping God. We find him in the hold of the ship on his way to Tarshish, fast asleep despite the violent pitching caused by the terrible storm. He realizes soon enough that the God of creation, who made everything and rules over it supremely, cannot be evaded.