The First Night Out

I had this amazing wave hit me earlier today.  It was a moderate sense of foreboding, maybe even some holy fear?  I was meditating on Kingdom warfare, listening to a bit of Switchfoot (you know those music cycles you get into), and contemplating the unseen combat we all experience, often and even unbeknownst to us.

As I was musing about these matters, I had this vision of the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve, and night was falling.  As I held that picture in my mind, I saw in a panoramic way, what appeared to be a beautiful track of land.  Lush vegetation, thick like a rain forest and picturesque mountain tops peeking out above the tree tops.  The Garden of Eden, of course!

Yet what immediately became unsettling was the fact that the picture, looked as if someone had turned down the lights.  It looked as if dark storm clouds were hovering over the entire area.  No sun was shining, and very gusty winds were bending trees low.  It made me feel like I did when I first saw Dorothy trying to get back to her aunt and uncles place, while the twister bobbed and weaved in the black and white background.  I sensed panic and futility.

It was Eden.  It was Adam and Eve.  It was The First Night Out of the confines of God’s protection and presence.  It the first time they cowered alone.  It was the first time they heard the fearful sound of wind, night creatures, and yes even muffled growls of now hungry carnivores.  Not to mention, their sense of darkness was now different.  Never before had they been alone in the dark, not knowing what the tortured days ahead would bring.  Wow!  What a heavy and fearful time that must have been.

Now jump ahead many thousands of years to June 13, 2012.  At this present moment, even at this very hour, we live with the undercurrent of isolation and abandonment.  Oh I’m sure we’ve never really considered its origin nor outcome, but it quietly hums in the back of everyone’s mind.  Some more than others, but all can feel it.

The First Night Out of the garden must have been so terrifying.  Even beyond imagination.  And the reason most of us can’t even touch with our imagination this moment of pain and fear, is because it’s been in our DNA from that moment.  It’s been woven into our consciousness and our sub consciousness.  It’s become such a familiar component of who we are as humans; some have hypothesized that it’s evolutionary survival of the fittest.  I disagree.

For the very life of me I cannot imagine what that couple felt the night after their eviction from their safe and beautiful home.  I know that underlying feeling is built into all humans, but man.  That first night must have been such a precursor to hell, I shudder to think how they really felt.

Here’s my point: That undercurrent of fear and abandonment, can be overrode with a genuinely powerful experience in His presence.  No longer do we have to be governed by that creepy sense that we’re somehow all alone and without a Fathers helping hand.

Oh granted, we still labor because of the curse placed upon this earth.  There still are thorns, thistles, carnivores, blood, sweat and tears affecting our very lives and each days harvest, but we ARE NOT ALONE!  We are not cowering under the fear of storms unknown, and recourses yet found!

By no means whatsoever are we left for total self-reliance.  We have an advocate.  We have a counselor and friend.  We have tools, keys and even weapons at our disposal.  We have promises that are yes and amen, in Christ Jesus.  We above all creation have a HOPE.  We have a Voice that calms the wind and waves.  We have a means by which we access all that is good and right.  We have a Savior and Lord.

I’m so thankful that vision is no longer a reality.  No more are we huddled under the shelter of a bush, cowering in fear as to what our Father may be thinking or doing, nor are we at risk from a creation gone rogue.  On the contrary!

We are free, safe and well provided for in the aftermath of the worst eviction even known to humankind.  I for one am glad it’s no longer The First Night Out of the garden.  I’m grateful that another story has been written and lived out in the person of Jesus Christ, and I as the object of His love can write and live the next chapter of a story that ends well.

Amen.