am i hiding in the garden....

I only have memories of being astonished that Adam and Eve could be so foolish as to think they could possibly hide from God ~ but lately I've been trying to find the message for me in these 'ridiculous' and 'obvious' stories.  Last night as I was drifting off to sleep ~ this question popped in to my mind ~ Am I hiding in the garden....

Am I Hiding in the Garden

Am I hiding in the garden
trying to cover up my shame?
Do I respond to His loving voice
when He calls to me by name?

Am I hiding in the garden
each day I spend away
from His perfect word and fellowship
and the times that I should pray?

Am I hiding in the garden
when my sins I still deny
with shallow, careless, empty prayers
that perpetuate more lies?

Am I hiding in the garden
when I hold on to a grudge
stand my ground and justify
the reasons I won't budge?

Am I hiding in the garden
in the busyness of life
trading peace and fellowship
for vain pursuits and strife?

Am I hiding in the garden
still listening to the snake
my love and peace and fellowship
he strives each day to take?

Confess my sins!  Call out to God
and let His heel crush
the lies that keep me hiding here
underneath this brush!

I've learned a precious lesson
from Adam and his wife
Stay close to God and never doubt
I need Him in my life

Are you hiding in the garden?
Cry out to God and see
your loving Father waits for you
and He will set you free!

tangled...

tangled in my whirling thoughts
not knowing what to do
fearing failure, time flying by
each day an older you

sweet child of mine, i've done my best
to train you all i know
to love and live in righteousness
so to Him you'll always go

you trip, i gasp, i fear i've failed
panic grips my heart
reminded again, not mine but His
a priceless work of art

tangled in my whirling thoughts
the devil smells my fears
dropped to my knees i ask and pray
my prayers i know He hears

back in the game i guide again
i'll coach you every day
still in my care He's trusted me
to guide you to His way

you see, you learn, it finally clicks
your heart continues to grow
each challenge that He gives us
is so that we can know

when tangled in our whirling thoughts
we must kneel down and pray
we both will grow and be shaped more
like His son each day

dear friend...

To lose someone we love can create a storm of emotions in our hearts ~ whether gone Home or moved away ~ in the best of circumstances or the worst ~ the pain and heartache can cloud our vision, obscure truth and hold us captive....

dear friend ~ I pray for your clear view of God and your absolute freedom in Christ....

dear friend...

Hurt and broken, you shed angry tears
Who or what feeds all of these fears

You speak of our God, your prayers and His peace
But these bitter tears do not seem to cease

I know that you struggle, you must learn to let go
Forgiveness, not anger is what you must sow

History shows us that heroes will rise
Kindness and wisdom ~ no wrong in our eyes

We love them and trust them and give them our heart
Knowing, yet forgetting ~ one day we may part

Isaiah has shown us great men can out-shine
Our full view of God, if at the wrong time

Although we are weak, our God knows what's best
Moving them on, so in Him we'll rest

I miss you, dear friend, but his timing is right
He's called us to battle, and this is His fight

Pushed away from our friends, but drawn near to our Lord
He fights these tough battles with the Truth of His Sword

Sisters and friends in Christ you can trust
I love you, dear friend ~ He told us ~ we must

This very day I am praying like Paul
That God give you wisdom to soon see this all

Trust Him and love Him, dear friend ~ let Him heal
your heart and your spirit ~ His power is real

One day soon, I do pray, you'll know peace ~ deep and true
Until that day comes, I'll be praying for you....

In the day King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord.... Isaiah 6:1a

traps and snares...

A good trapper must have many devices ~ cages, nets, ropes are just a few~ the method of choice varying based on the prey and the surroundings, the trapper must know his prey, how to lure him and how to best conceal any trace of himself and his trap, often using things from his prey's environment to best fool his victim.

The spiritual world is certainly far more complex than the worst wilderness or jungle ~ As a Christian I should be well trained to avoid snares and traps so that I will not be taken captive ~ but sometimes I think we are fooled by our surroundings, distracted by the bait, dulled by our hunger, weakened by old wounds...

Hurt feelings, a broken heart, a quarrel with a friend, tension in a marriage, loneliness, shame, illness, selfishness, pride, regret, fear or doubt, guilt and insecurities ~ can dull our senses, weaken our judgement and even be used to snare us ~ just a little of this and a little of that, and we might not even see it coming, fooled by the camouflage...

A well run home, community and church involvement, business success, lives engrossed in our children, hobbies or spouses ~ even our own eagerness to deny a problem's existence can all camouflage the building materials being used to slowly lure us in to captivity.

No one is contained by a single bar in a prison wall, nor bound by a short length of rope ~ it can be so easy to be unconcerned when the first few are dropped in place, or a few scraps of rope are scattered about ~ just look another direction, focus on your busyness and things seem fine ~ but one day, when the last couple of bars are dropped in place ~ we're trapped, suddenly captive and bound and not knowing how we got there...

We may grab hold of the bars, determined to break through the iron strength from our fear regarding money, health, children or marriage, or grasp at the ropes of loneliness, doubt, regret and guilt that bind us ~ or we may drop to our knees desperate to dig out of the mud and mire of our bitter and angry thoughts, those justifiable arguments we so self-righteously clung too ~ wondering why we are trapped, how could we be captive to just one little thing...

It is easy to be pleased that there are no bars to form a prison wall in your life while ignoring the ropes that snake in to bind you ~ so likely to sleep soundly when you look at your busy, seemingly unbound hands, when the muck and the mire build in your heart from the bitter, self-righteous, judgemental thoughts, you know, just the ones that are justified...

How easily we can be lured in, watching for one trap, being caught by another...

Drawn in pride, bound by lies, stuck in the muck of our own futile or ugly thoughts ~ we can find ourselves prisoners in this supernatural war ~ we don't have the strength to break through the bars, nor the wisdom to untie the binds and we have no ability to cleanse the muck that holds us down ~ we need our Savior

If you've looked on every side and see the bars that hold you in, if you've raised your hands only to find them bound, if you scratch and you dig seeking a way out of the mess - STOP ~

Look up to see the way of escape, raise your hands in confession and He will break the ties that hold you captive, repent of your sins and he will cleanse the muck that holds you down, surrender to Him and he will raise you from your cell ~ learn from Him and He will train you to walk on the path free from snares...