This is an interesting side-road. The verse that came to mind is from Isaiah's call in Isaiah 6:1-7: Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. And then the seraph put a coal to his lips and pronounced him forgiven.
I guess that when I pray, I try to take C.S. Lewis's advice and not think about how dirty I am. (He said it's best if you don't think about yourself at all.) Maybe God would be more inclined to grant my requests if I weren't so dirty? (That sounds kinda crass, doesn't it?) I dunno.
That whole run and hide from God thing. It goes all the way back to The Garden, doesn't it? And me without my fig leaf.
Oh, well. They say it's easier to hug a dirty kid than a stiff kid.
Boy, you really hit the nail on the head there.
One thing that helps me is to consider that at the point at which I thought my relationship with God was at its peak in terms of consecration, devotion, loyalty and so forth, I was still pretty grimy.
So, as you put it, the whole run and hide from God thing is perfectly natural, but also perfectly unnecessary and only serves to hurt both ourselves and God.
One thing I've had to determine to get through my own thick skull is that no Biblical picture of God's yearning after an erring child is inapplicable to me (or anyone else if they will receive it).
If I should stray but for a day after 50 years of faithful service, the Father is still waiting with the robe, ring, and fatted calf so I had best come to my senses, arise from my pig pen, and go to Him since He sees me a long way off, runs to me and embraces me.
To me, this can just be a matter of perspective. I didn't mean to offend anyone.
