It’s a place of abundance.
More abundance than any human being living in this world can fathom.
Since Eden was closed to us no human being has ever been able to even begin to comprehend what Eden was like.
A place of constant bliss and joy. A place of complete and utter health. A place dripping with splendour and wealth. A place where thoughts of depression and anxiety never ever occurred. A place of peace. A place of far more than enough. Fear never ever occurred in Eden. A place of constant encouragement- where thoughts of despair, loss and discouragement never ever occurred.
Eden. A place that’s impossible to describe because even our greatest and wildest imaginations cannot even begin to grasp the abundance, fullness and absolute perfection that was Eden.
Eden was a place where it was impossible to need anything because everything one needed was there. And yet in this place where humans needed absolutely nothing- not one thing- ever- somehow, in ways one could never comprehend, Eve was deceived into believing there was more- that something was lacking.
And in this place more magical and more sublime than we could ever imagine- our ancestors fell. It is in this place where they once had all that they lost everything- because they believed that what they had was not enough.
I once heard someone say that if that could happen to our ancestors in a place where, really they needed nothing– you could darn well believe it could much easier happen to us in a world that was so broken and we did have real needs.
Having said that I’d like to share this piece from my dear friend Mercy Dembetembe who has taught me to guard my Eden. To watch out for the Liar who will ask seemingly innocent questions and cause me to lose my splendour by asking that very dangerous question: “Is God Holding out on me?”
Eden
By Mercy Dembetembe
God prepared a wonderful Garden of Eden for Adam and Eve because He loved them so.
Then the Liar came and wrapped himself around a tree. Just one tree.
He whispered a lie: “There’s more…”
And by deceiving Eve he sealed their fate. She and the man she loved were cast out of this wonderful, glorious, place.
God does the same with our lives and our thoughts.
He gives us beauty. And He blesses us- abundantly. And in this garden of splendour the Liar, who knows precisely which tree to wrap himself around in our mind conjures up a tiny, negative thought.
The question always starts with doubt- such as: “Did God really say?”
That seemingly “small” negative thought questions what God has given us.
And as the conversation with this serpent continues, thought by thought, we begin to believe his lies.
And then we begin to question: “Could there really be more? Is God holding out on me? What if…”
If we don’t stop the conversation and if we don’t stop the destructive thinking we act on our unbelief.
This is why without faith it’s impossible to please God.
We fail to stay in what God has given us because we forget what He promised.
This happens so easily because “surely” the thoughts we’re having make sense? Surely there must be more…
Before we know it we’ve traded this wonderful Eden we had for a lie.
And we find ourselves in a barren place where we have to labour, toil and give our very lives to attain even a fraction of what we’d initially been given by God, in abundance, for free!
We find that by believing the lie we’ve thrown ourselves out of the wonderful place that had been meticulously made for us by a loving God.
I figure God walks through our minds, hearts and lives illuminating them so that we see good in others, the good in the things people do for us and the blessings given to us daily.
His illumination allows us to see clearly through His eyes and from His heart. Through those we are able to see the value in the things around us- in essence we see that He really does love us. And we delight in living in the goodness He wants us to dwell in. With that we can easily stay away from sin- which always starts out as temptation to doubt: “Did God…?”
Often the problem is the Liar uses things that seem real.
And we find ourselves saying things like: “Well this is how I feel.” Or “I’m just being honest.” Or “I need to be realistic.”
While we may believe our statements to be true, what’s really happening is that we’re in actual fact being drawn into negative thought patterns which draw us away from God and into things that are completely contrary to His best for us.
It all starts out with a single thought. Doubt disguised in a simple question.
The truth is God is not holding out on you.
Protect your Eden. By staying in faith. By being diligent about what thoughts you allow.
Believe what God said to you. Believe what He promised. It might not make sense. Believing the lie may be easier and oftentimes simpler. But God has way more for you. Choose rather to believe Him.