Taking back Eden

Today has been one of those days when you find yourself aware of the pain all around you. Like Scarlett O'Hara trudging through the town streets of Atlanta, casualties of war crying and dying as far as the eye can see. The hem of her gown stained with blood; some her own, most belonging to others. Cut off from the living vine she had no courage or strength to face the destruction of the enemy. She had nothing to offer the desperate. Hopelessness turned to fear and caused her to seek escape.

The scene remains the same for the Believer. Yet Christ provides courage and compassion to stay and minister to those in need. Praying for the eyes of Jesus awakens your senses; your stomach sours from the stench of the devil and your eyes burn with tears for the view, but your hands can feel the beauty of Eden.

Our great enemy continues his assault on God's Creation by hurling bombs of destruction; Illness, divorce, abandonment, abuse and rejection. The wounds found after the smoke clears from tragedies like these run deeper than we realize. People respond differently to their bleeding. Some simply use band aides. Many try to hide their injuries by masquerading. Countless, sadly, cause thier bleeding to continue by picking at their wounds; re injuring themselves through repetitive thought and sharing the offense. Their speech is to the discerning wails of one in pain.

Though hearts, minds and bodies are battered in this spiritual war the greatest injury is to the soul. The tearing of God from man's presence through sin - like an amputation - causes a spiritual hemorrhage. Though God offers healing, few call upon the Great Physician, and the streets are filled with lost, dying souls. It wasn't meant to be this way. We were not created in the image of God to soak the ground with our sweat and tears...and blood. We were fashioned with great care to be more than we can behold...we were created to behold Almighty God.

Created in the image of God who is Spirit, our well runs deeper than flesh and beyond our comprehension. Continuing with Oswald Chambers' devotional, My Utmost for His Highest, I am blessed with insight to this mystery of ourselves. Oswald states, "But, my God, my soul has horizons further away than those of early mornings, deeper darkness than the nights of earth, higher peaks than any mountain peaks, greater depths than any sea in nature," (January 9).

David had it right when he proclaimed we are "fearfully and wonderfully made," (Psalm 139). When we seek to be healed we must apply the power of God to Spirit and flesh; give our selves over completely. The blood of Jesus is the balm for our conscious selves; conscious, subconscious and unconscious. When we take our wounds to the Lord his healing reaches the depths we can not fathom. His Holy Spirit speaks to the Father about our hidden needs and unknown desires. This is the comfort of the believer in this life; Complete and lasting healing provided by eternally wounded hands.

This is not so for those outside communion with God through salvation in Christ. Their souls have no hope for restoration, their flesh no peace in pain. The enemy distorts a man's view of the good of embracing Jesus. He, the father of lies whispers his poisonous thoughts, and though heads turned but for a moment, Eden was lost. God's gift of peace and harmony stolen from us all.

But, we can recover part of the garden experience. In order to take back lost territory we must unleash the Creator in our being. The one who knit us together knows our secret places; the cracks and crevices where sin tries to hide to decay us from within. We must free the Holy Spirit to search us through and through and cleanse us. Our minds must be renewed and our hearts purified before we will see our spirit soar in the midst of adversity.

Let us not delay to get on our knees and cry out to God for our healing. Lord we pray you will heal our minds, heal our hearts and heal our bodies. Restore Eden to our spirits that we can walk fearlessly with you as Adam and Eve once did in the garden.