Then their eyes were opened,

..... they knew that they were naked and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. When they heard the LORD God walking in the garden,  Adam and his wife hid from His presence (Genesis 3:7, 8). Before their choice to disobey the command,  they were naked but not ashamed (2:16, 25; 3:6).  But now they were both ashamed, and afraid (verse 10). A common responses to guilt and shame is to hide.  But you can't hide from God,  “for there is no creature hidden from His sight, all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account” (Heb. 4:13). Did they think that they would not have to give an account? Do we?

The fig leaves didn't cover anything they hadn't seen before, so what was the point? Shame makes us afraid to let others see who we really are. I need people to think I have it all together, even if I am falling apart inside.  I'm afraid if others really knew me,  they'd  reject me. We have our own fig leaves then,  the masks we wear, the image we project,  to hide our shame. Alienation is about pulling back or being separated in some way from others.  Here we see our alienation from God, and from others. But actually the fig leaves were also there so we they not have to look on (be reminded of) their own nakedness. We tend to believe we are the image we project, it's not always reality!.  A third alienation then is from ourselves, our detachment from reality. Together, these three alienations characterize the spirit of the age, the orphan spirit, our sense of abandonment, loneliness, alienation and isolation, and our futile attempts to cover our shame.

You can't unscramble eggs, but God can! And the major thrust of the entire Bible from this point on, is about His solution to sin, shame, guilt and alienation. It's called redemptions and reconciliation, that is being put right with God and each other (and actually also with creation  – Romans 8:21).  He is committed to not riding rough shot over our free will. And because of this it needed to be a process,  a process where at each stage we choose to cooperate or not, as He draws us to Himself with chords of love (Hosea 11:4). He waits so that He can be gracious to us (Isaiah  30:18), as we in vain try to fix ourselves. It is no coincidence that the first step in twelve-step programs is to come out of denial that we can. In my own life I had to have the rug pulled out from under my feet a number of times before I would admit that I needed His help. Until the last “rug” (the last straw) that brought me to the end of myself, I had apparently still not suffered enough to surrender my all. But that surrender was the best thing I ever did!

Lord Jesus, I remember well the  night I told You that I couldn't  fight You anymore. I sensed that You smiled and told me that You were not fighting me. You had waited to be gracious to me, and I was now ready. You showed me all the things that I had been  unwilling to surrender were the very same things that were causing me pain. Your ways are best, and though I don't say I never struggle, it's always worth it.  And I thank and praise You again for it all, in Your precious Name Amen