The Beginning: "OPENED EYES & DARKENED HEARTS"

"You're so close-minded."

"You're so naive."

"You're so ignorant!"

I'm willing to bet that if Satan had just whispered one of the above phrases to Eve, she would have eaten the forbidden fruit much faster than when he used his lengthy, wordy, trickery. No one wants to be viewed as dense, close-minded, naive, or ignorant. No one wants to lack anything, especially knowledge. Many of us spend our lives pursuing knowledge of some sort: psychologists want to know more about the human mind, astronomers about space, doctors about medicine and the human body, etc. Adam and Eve pursued knowledge and they got it.

Genesis 3:7--"Then the eyes of both of them were opened..."

If their eyes were opened at the beginning of the human race (thus passing down to all of us), then why are we still spending our lives seeking something more? Why do we still seek knowledge or an "eye-opening" lesson?

Because when our eyes opened back in the glorious greenhouse stage of the world, something in us closed. Something more crucial to our spiritual walks and our existence than knowledge:

"This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart..." (Eph. 4:17-18)

In the opening of our eyes was the closing of our hearts. Our understanding was darkened. We closed a door to open a window and now we spend the rest of our lives trying to close that window and open the door again.

Often times, in bible studies or church teachings, we mute the importance of the "fall of man". We focus only on the fact that man sinned and jinxed us all (thanks a lot, Adam and Eve). Though their disobedience is important, I think it's more crucial for us to see that the thick cord bonding us to God was reduced to a tiny thread. We closed our hearts and understanding--the two deepest ways that we  commune with God. We use understanding in reading and absorbing His Word, and we use our hearts to talk with Him.

Ever heard the phrase, "heart knowledge vs. head knowledge"? You know how that feels, when you know that God exists, but can't seem to make yourself feel that He does? Some call these moments "dry spells" in the Christian walk or "feeling distant from God". That is from the fall of man. Yes, sin entered the world, too and we were kicked out of the garden, but we made it harder on ourselves--harder to connect with our Lord. It's a constant struggle, but there's hope. We always have more to discover about God and it is possible. Adam and Eve were there once--in His presence. I cherish the minutes I get to spend there, and I will live striving to multiply those minutes for the rest of my life. Maybe someday, my understanding will be lightened, and my heart will not longer be blind.

 

 

This ends my "Beginning Series". Read the other entries here:

Genesis Recipe

The Beginning: "ALONE"

The Beginning: "MARRIAGE"

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The Beginning: "MARRIAGE"

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Not much is said about the first wedding. God swirls some dust and "poof!" there's man. Then He swirls a rib and "poof!" there's woman. "...And He brought her to the man." (Genesis 2:22)

That's the first wedding.

Come now. What girl doesn't want to know Eve's wedding colors? The flowers? Whether it was sunset or sunrise? The style of her dress? For the guys in the room, don't you wish marriage was still that simple? No stiff tuxedo or bridezillas? No waiting once you found that girl of your dreams?

So what if? What if weddings were still that simple? Prayer and promises, then God gives the woman to the man. This question arose in my marriage-centered brain after God introduced me to my future husband last November. Only a few months passed before I started saving up for my wedding and planning my life around Daylen Brandes. It was such a clear progression to knowing we were made for each other, but that progression came to a sudden halt thanks to modern requirements--marriage licenses, big productions, caterers, wedding drama. Now we're stuck knowing we should have been married yesterday, but it can't happen without a white dress, preacher, and a lot of relatives.

I spent several days daydreaming about Eve. God just presented her to Adam, they knew they were meant for each other (granted, they were the only two humans on Earth at the time), and voila! they're "married" under God. I would love to just pray with my man and open my eyes as a married woman.

No wonder physical intimacy is often a struggle for Christian couples prior to the wedding--the world says, "Oh, you've realized you want to get married? Okay, hold that thought and wait for 10 months." Suddenly a natural progression of closeness is halted and, whether the couple likes it or not, they're forced into a situation of ultimate, ridiculous, stressful patience.

I just keep thinking, "Hurry up, time! We need to get our life started! God has so many great plans for us once we're married!" Imagine if we started acting on those plans today. Instead, I'm just hoping that I live long enough to make it to my wedding and get going on God's blueprints.

(Be sure to read the introduction to "The Beginning Series" and "The Beginning: Alone")

The Beginning: "ALONE"

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"You're never alone."
This common Christian 'feel-good' phrase is often heard when someone, in an act of honest vulnerability, dares to express that they feel alone.
The generic, watered-down response of, "You're never alone," rarely provides comfort or reassurance; instead, this vulnerable person now feels like a failure.
If God is always there, why do I feel alone? Is it because I'm not seeking Him enough?
Good question. Many would say, "Yup, it's your fault. Better step up those morning devos."

The term "alone" has fallen into the sin pool. I view the sin pool as a pot of words the Christian culture has thrown together and labeled as "sin" or "evil" when these words/feelings/actions aren't really sin unless in occasional contexts.

Epiphany: God created the feeling of being "alone" before sin even entered the world. Take a look:

"And the Lord God said, "It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him."

-Genesis 2:18

God labeled Adam as "alone" during a time when Adam spoke with, walked with, and spent every second in God's presence. Still, God deemed him in need of a helper. A supporter. What does this mean? Can we be alone even when we're with God?

Recently, God's impressed upon me the importance of a Christian support system. He's showing me it's okay to need someone. This doesn't mean that I doubt Him. He designed His body as a support system, not as a red pen divvying out judgment.
When I first moved to Missouri last autumn, I had no one. During that time, God chose to fill every role I needed. He was my support system, but then He trickled some of His children into my life and allowed them to fill some of the needed roles, all the while remaining the Leader.

My support system was absent this week, depriving me of the two people I turn to most for encouragement and Godward-pointed binoculars. The enemy (not necessarily just Satan, but doubts, fears, questions, worries, etc.) stood on my doorstep with me, waving farewell as my support system departed their separate ways for the next week. Then he invited himself into my apartment with a confident step and set up camp. I tripped over his tent the first two mornings and wondered aloud to God why my joy, smiles, and reassurance seemed to be super-glued to the carpet.

"Support system," He whispered.
"But they're gone!" I whined.
God didn't buy it. He's a fan of modern technology. It only took one large swallow of pride and a couple texts to contact my support system and ask for prayer. The responses were instantaneous and uplifting...lifting my enemy's tent right off its pegs and out the window.

Thousands of years later, God is still whispering to us, "It is not good for you to be alone."
Are we turning to our support systems? Friends? Family? Spouses? Church? Are we establishing support systems in our lives? Equally as important, are we being a support system to those close friends, family, spouses, etc? Or are we uncapping the red Sharpie and scribbling, "You're never alone. You're just not focusing on your morning devotions enough."
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Genesis Recipe

On occasion, a theme will take hold of my musings and cling to them like a vine-swinging monkey. Thanks to a fine mixture of finals, relationships, questions, and life over the past several weeks, a recipe has emerged from my mind and I'm cooking it up over the course of the next three blog posts. This recipe is entitled, "The Beginning".

Only this morning did I realize that my recent mental self-lectures all link back to Genesis. This surprises me because I've always been a little bored with Genesis, due to growing up in the church and enduring the repetitive Sunday school classes that often water down the more weighty points of the Bible. But recently I've been seeing several "Genesis-Events" with a blinking light-bulb over my head, so starting next Friday, the three-course meal begins:

The Beginning: "ALONE"
(Some Ingredients: Why do we tend to assume that feeling "lonely" means you're far from God? Is feeling "alone" wrong?)

The Beginning: "FIRST WEDDING"
(Main Ingredient: What if marriage was still so simple as that first one?)

The Beginning: "OPENED EYES & DARKENED HEARTS"
(A Garnish: What really opened and what really closed when they took that first bite?)

Hopefully all dishes will emerge unburned and cooked to perfection. You're the judges and I'm the chef. I hope you're hungry.