Walking With God: Becoming a Friend of the Divine — Part 1
Scripture:
“Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day…”
— Genesis 3:8 (NIV)
“Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.”
— Genesis 5:24 (NIV)
Before the Fall, There Was Friendship.
Before commandments were etched into stone…
Before temples were built with hands…
Before doctrine, denomination, or dogma…
There was a garden.
And in that garden, God walked.
Not reigned.
Not ruled.
Not roared.
Walked.
The image is tender, almost scandalous in its simplicity: the Creator of the universe choosing proximity over power. Communion over command. Friendship over fear.
The first thing God wanted from humanity was not obedience, but intimacy.
The Sound of God’s Footsteps
The Hebrew of Genesis 3:8 is poetic. The phrase “the sound of the Lord God walking” evokes not thunder or trumpet, but something soft. Familiar. Almost like a loved one’s keys jingling at the door.
Adam and Eve recognized that sound.
Which means… they’d heard it before.
This wasn’t God’s first walk through the garden. It was part of the rhythm of their relationship—divine footsteps in the dew, presence in the cool of the day.
Sin didn’t kill that friendship. Shame did.
They hid not because God was different… but because they were.
And still—God called for them.
Friendship with God is not broken by our failure. It’s broken by our belief that God won’t still show up in the same place looking for us.
Enoch and the Unseen Journey
Later in the Genesis story, we meet Enoch—a man whose name most folks pass by. But the text says something remarkable:
“Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.”
(Genesis 5:24)
That’s it. No burning bush. No parting seas. No miracles recorded. Just… he walked.
And God loved the walk so much, He didn’t let it end.
Enoch teaches us that faithfulness isn’t always about performance.
Sometimes friendship with God looks like quiet consistency.
The daily choice to journey with God when nobody else is watching.
The Friendship We Were Made For
Many of us have inherited a God who is distant, suspicious, or perpetually disappointed.
But in Eden, before exile, was a different story.
A God who walked.
Who waited.
Who called.
Who came close.
And maybe… that’s the friendship we were made for.
Walking Forward
In a world obsessed with performance, productivity, and platform, this blog series invites you to rediscover God as Friend—not employer, not judge, not just Savior—but Friend.
This week, ask yourself:
Am I walking with God, or just working for God? Where have I hidden out of shame, believing God wouldn’t come find me? How can I recover the rhythm of divine friendship?
Prayer
God of the garden,
You walked before You ruled.
You called before You commanded.
Let me hear Your footsteps again.
Help me unlearn the fear that hides,
And return to the Friend who still walks toward me.
Amen.
The Stained Glass Collective 