You could have heard a pin drop

Photo credit:  Janelle Keith - My quiet zone

There is a place that I go to everyday.  It's where I go to hear from God.

I read, He rights, and we talk.  Friendly conversations that gently fall softly upon my heart.  

I hear His sound.

It must be what Adam and Eve heard in the garden of Eden.  Think about how perfect that communion must of went every day.  Hangin' out with our Creator.

Shouldn't we be just a little excited about that kind of appointment too?

Imagine the fear they must have felt though, after knowing that they had directly disobeyed what God had told them.  No wonder they hid immediately.

Do we respond the same?  Full of shame and regret?

Why did they hide?  They were alone after all.  The serpent had just slithered into hiding, feeling really smug about what had just taken place.  

Genesis 3:1 "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, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden."

Have you ever thought how far away the Lord really was?  I mean what other perfectly created outdoor space was there?  It was the only beautiful, peaceful, quiet, relaxing place to be.  

I don't think the Lord was too far from Adam and Eve when they were standing face to face with temptation.  I really think that Adam and Eve were so distracted by pleasure that they forgot that the Lord was near.

If God was that close, and they weren't aware of it, think about how Jesus resides in our hearts and we still do wrong things.  Would awareness of His presence cause us to stop when we are face to face with temptation?

I have asked myself this question.  It should, but honestly most times, sadly it doesn't.  I do wrong things in spite of Jesus residing in my heart.  How could I?  How this must hurt my Creator!

When I think about the Lord being near, so near that I can hear His sound, then it should totally change the way I deal with sin.  I shouldn't be thinking about doing what I know is wrong.

I shouldn't be eating for comfort.
I shouldn't be doubting the work He has done in my life.
I shouldn't be thinking about....
I shouldn't be sinning.
I shouldn't be making unholy choices.

How did Adam and Even know they needed to hide from God?  Their eyes were opened to shame immediately.  One bite in and they knew.  

They knew.  We know.

Their hearts were filled with shame.  Regret and now separation.  Guilt.  

How?

They heard the sound of the Lord.  They were so familiar with His Presence, that when He came close, they had to hide their sin, shame, and guilt.  They were so used to Him being with them, so used to sharing their time with Holiness.   Because God had been a constant companion, His Holy nearness was shared between the Divine and the human.  When shame and regret separated, the gap was palpable.  I bet you could have heard a pin drop in the Garden of Eden.  

All of creation held it's breath, and shame slithered and hid.  Shame shouted so loud in those moments of silence.   

God knew what had just happened, He had planned for this event.  He wasn't far away.  Adam and Eve made the wrong choice because they had forgotten the sound of the Lord.

Next time you're faced with temptation, and I am saying this to myself as well, may we all be so familiar with the sound of the Lord, that it causes us to stop and consider the benefits of obedience.

May we consider the palpable silence that sin causes in the shared community with the Divine.  

May we always consider that the Lord is near and always hear His sound.  
  

God Mowed Me Over

There was a season when God taught me some valuable lessons on forgiveness.  It involved a lawn mower, a fence post and whole lot of sweat and tears.  That hot summer day, I was about the business of mowing our yard, my weekly chore.  I didn't want to be there, I never did.  

Because our yard is really renovated pasture grass, there are surprises hidden from time to time, dirt holes, tire tracks, mole mounds and tunnels.  But there was one obstacle that I had forgotten about that was hidden and deeply planted.  It was an old buried and broken steel fence post that had been cemented 3-feet-deep in the yard.     It was barely peeking over the blades of grass.  I didn't notice how close I was mowing next to it, until of course, it was too late.  Thwack!  The mower had a blade-on collision with the post and it stopped my mower cold.  

Hitting that post collided my attitude also.  It stopped right in the middle of my lousy temperament too.  As I was already dreading this chore, now it seemed that my chore list got a little bit longer to complete.  That thwack just forced the mower out of commission for the next 15 minutes.  

"Time to cool off". I told myself.  I had to catch my breath a little.

It seemed my mower was needing some breathing room too.  I walked away to get a cold drink in the house.  One thing I know about mowers when hitting steel posts every other swipe, they like to take a breather before returning to full crank position.  

I swigged down some icy cold water and it helped cool my body down.  But heat rose in my frustrated heart.  Resentment was building as the clock tick-tocked.  The last thing I needed that day was a delay in the finish.  I went back outside to asses the restart-the-mower plan.  I bent over to pull the start cord on the mower.  

Guess what?  Did you know that mowers have a sense of humor?  Deep inside it's grass laden underbelly, that old mower was laughing hysterically at me for taking such a short breathing break.  "In your dreams Jack!"  Suddenly it was shouting "hands off"!!!  I failed to see the humor.

I wasn't laughing...I just got more frustrated.  And my frustration was fueled by an escalating anger until I screamed a little.  Where upon, and henceforth, I invited myself to the biggest pity party on the block that day.  

It was a party of two.  Me and God.

I looked down at the problem post and said, "This is all YOUR fault!"  (Can you tell I talk to inanimate objects too much?)  The tip of the fence post just sat there buried, blinking at me with a blank stare.  

And then it happened.   Then God tapped me on my sweaty shoulder and immediately started resolving my resentment. 

"You see that fence post, it's buried like the unyielding bitterness you have buried in your heart.  You have held on to this unforgiving spirit for a while now..it's time to give that to Me.  I have watched you dig resentment, cemented with the deep-seated feelings around your hurts."    

God's gentle tap hit my heart with heavy conviction.  I saw His point.  Yeah, I got it.  I had some more clean-up to do.  As my eyes leaked onto my sweaty tank-top, my heart confessed the error of my ways.  I had been carrying some deeply hidden junk and that day God uncovered and mowed down the tangled, overgrown weeds.  He brought grace and forgiveness into those hardened, buried places.  

This is the part of the story where I tell you that I forgave those on God's agenda and then jumped right up and resumed mowing.  That didn't happen.  I spent some time crying, forgiving, and listening to God.  I was also  "mowed down" by my Creator who cared enough to put a fence post in my way, so I would be stopped by it, so He could give me a life-long lesson in forgiveness   

I took notes that in God's forgiveness school.  My grassy knees were imprinted with visible outlines of weeds pressed in as I pressed into God's grace and let the tears flow.  It seems my heart needed a pressure valve, and once the explosion of tears was over, there was peace and a light feeling in my spirit.  

No more heaviness, no more shame, no more blame.   

God didn't intend for us to carry the burden of an unforgiving spirit. It will hold you captive and bind you up tighter than a straight jacket. So if you have some resentment in your heart, let God tap your shoulder and mow you over with His wonderful gift of grace! We serve a God who commands us to forgive, over and over.  Yes, even that person you are thinking of right now.   Jesus taught us to forgive with the finest example of asking the Father to forgive those who put him on the cross.  He didn't turn a blind eye to our wrongdoings or injustices, nor did He let anger fester in His heart.  He freely gave the gift of forgiveness and releasing us from guilt.  

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8

Not forgiving someone poisons our soul and taints our relationships. I need forgiveness on a daily basis....sometimes minute by minute. God freely gives forgiveness and so should I.  So should you. 

Who do you need to forgive today?  From one mower to another, there is God's grace to help you dig out those deeply planted "posts" in your life.