Best Valentine’s Ever

Ten years ago this weekend, I had no idea that my journey with Jesus was about to take a meaningful turn. In 2016, on Friday the 13th right before Valentine’s Day, I was on a 4-hour drive to a concert with my sister and our friend.

That weekend, I drove through snow, even though I didn’t want to. I shared a room with other people, even though I didn’t want to. I prayed out loud, even though I didn’t want to. But I’m getting ahead of the story. It felt like I was starting a new life. Turns out, I really was.

We arrived safely through the snow to our hotel, and met with three of my sister’s friends, who I’d never met before. We all had tickets to see the Christian band, Kings Kaleidoscope, play later that evening. We did our nails together, got dressed in our concert best, and headed to the venue. After an amazing show and really a time of corporate worship where we got to stand right up front near the stage, we got back to the hotel and someone started prayer.

For the next hour or more, I was part of a prayer circle like nothing I had ever experienced before. There were heavy things being felt and carried by individuals in the group, many of those things were unknown to everyone, but each girl was prayed for uniquely in the Spirit with so much love. It was a night I don’t think I could ever forget. There was so much encouragement and a feeling of God’s Presence and Him carrying our burdens that it felt like I could be free in a way I hadn’t experienced before. Being supported in a community of women like that who were devoted to Jesus made a big impression on me, right at the time when I was starting to trust Jesus for myself again.

I experienced God’s love that Valentine’s weekend in community. That prayer circle was the church for me at a time when I wasn’t sure about attending to a church again. Those women set me on a trajectory of prayer that I’ll always be grateful for. Every single one was younger than me and had so much passion and wisdom in the Spirit as they sought Jesus. It put me in a state of awe and I was humbled to be a part of it. They gave me courage to pray aloud, to encourage them in return, and to love people in a way that I had been afraid to. It opened me up to a new realm of possibility in my faith and role in community.

Here at the ten year anniversary of that beautiful weekend, I am so grateful that God gave me that experience with other believers at that time in my faith journey, and allowed me to know beyond a doubt that He was present among us. I experienced in the most potent way, maybe to this day, the truth of the verse: “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them” (Matthew 18:20).

So friends, let’s seek the Lord for our friends in the faith. For me, the love shown to me in that community of women was and is more precious than anything of this world. Let’s pray with our friends, not just for them. Being the church outside its walls stands the test of time. Ten years and counting.

“By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).

Thank you for spending some of your time journeying with me. If you haven’t yet, please subscribe to Life with the King, and like & follow the Facebook page; it truly helps me continue writing this blog. Grace and peace.

January 1, 2026January 1, 2026

Characteristics of God: More Grace

I am, on my own, very slow to give grace to others, and even slower to give grace to myself. I could very easily slip into a spiral of regret, and have a few times. But giving grace is something that becomes much easier when I started to understand how much grace God willingly gives me, constantly. Denying grace towards myself keeps me stuck, blocking me from living in freedom. In surrendering to God’s grace, I can acknowledge that I did the best I could for what I knew and was capable of at the time.

Surrendering to the work of Jesus on the cross for me, and being sure and confident of His love, allows me to be more forgiving, loving, grace-full, and more fully myself. It has been the best possible decision for my life with the King. That decision needs to happen in my heart not just every new year, but every single new day. The best part is, God freely gives His grace to everyone. Jesus is enough, more than enough, to make up for our imperfections. He lends us His righteousness, His holiness, and His blood so that we, jars of clay (2 Corinthians 4:7), can approach the Father as His adopted sons and daughters. He loves us more than we can think or imagine! In Jesus, we have no more reasons to regret or live in shame. He provides freedom from these burdens because of His amazing, all-encompassing grace.

I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine

Isaiah prophesied about Jesus and what He would mean for us long before He was born. The grace of God nearly glimmers off the pages of Isaiah; today I’m focusing especially on chapters 41-43. God’s steadfast love is palpable in the prophet’s words, “fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10). God’s promises are full of love and grace; in this verse He offers His presence, His strength, His help, and His righteousness—to us—to you and to me! To everyone that believes in Jesus, He not only claims us as His own, but He also calls Himself ours. We are beholden to Him, and He choses to make Himself beholden to us! Through faith in Jesus, we are adopted into the family of His chosen people, Israel (Isaiah 41:8; Ephesians 1:5).

How is this possible? Nothing is impossible with God, “...I [God] will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water” (Isaiah 41:18b). With God, everything can turn around, even when all seems lost or hopeless. I’ve seen it happen many times, with hearts being changed, with lives being saved, or with seemingly no way out of a bad situation, God can and does make a way, by His grace. The Bible is full of God’s promises to His people, evidences of His incredible grace.

God doesn’t give up on us.

His grace has no end. If you think you’re too far gone for God, you’re simply mistaken. God’s grace is always, always there for you. “Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it: ‘I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness” (Isaiah 42:5-7). As we read here, God gave us breath, and our spirits, and the light of the world in Jesus. He has invested His whole heart into loving us all and making a way for us to thrive; by His grace He will never, ever give up on you.

With a new year ahead, it’s a great time to remember God’s will is to make all things new (Revelation 21:5), not because we are somehow “old” or not good enough as we are, but because that was His design for us from the beginning. We are to be “being renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16), from the inside. Isaiah prophesied, ” ‘. . . Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.’ Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise from the end of the earth, . . .” (Isaiah 42:9-10a). God is interested in doing new things, and I’m excited to continue inviting God to renew, restore, and sanctify me, day by day. There is nothing you or I can do to earn that gift; the only response is to praise Him for it.

Even when we fail to love God, as Israel did, by failing to walk with Him and failing to obey Him (Isaiah 42:24), He is pleased to redeem us because of His possessive and caring love towards us. Isaiah continues, “But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you” . . . ‘ (Isaiah 43: 1-2). Did you catch it too? We are already redeemed, already claimed as His own. We are promised His presence and protection, even when the circumstances are as dire and serious as flood or flames.

The grace of God is protective and unique

When we know that the character of God is gracious to such a great level beyond understanding, it inspires the awe and wonder that He deserves. His grace is so great that He made us, chooses us, loves us, and calls us His. “I, I am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior” (Isaiah 43:11). He stepped in when nothing and no one else could to save us from the destructiveness of sin in our world and in our hearts. God’s grace to deliver us is why we are able to have hope (2 Corinthians 1:10). “I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins” (Isaiah 43:25). God doesn’t remember our sins. Do we?

We can let the shame and burdens go too; they aren’t for holding onto, they are for releasing and allowing God’s grace to cover. Let Him cover you in His love. Halleluiah for the opportunity God’s grace gives us! May 2026 be a year of praising and worshiping God, and may we be overflowing with gratitude and with the grace that God generously provides!

” . . .. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. . . .” (Isaiah 42:16c).

“‘You are my witnesses,’ declares the Lord, ‘and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me” . . .’ (Isaiah 43:10).

“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert” (Isaiah 43:18-19).

December 4, 2025December 11, 2025

Choosing Gratefulness

I’ve thought a lot about family in the last few weeks. In revisiting family history, I was reminded of the patterns we see in our family lines, for better or worse. I used to look at my family and only see brokenness. One way that I knew God was working in my life back when I first understood what following Jesus meant, was that I started to feel more grateful than sad about life. I started to learn that there was another way to see the human story.

I recently realized that my parents have given me a very special legacy to walk in, which is to define people not by the state they are in, but by what God wants for them. My parents never give up on people, or on me, and I am very, very, grateful. I pray I can be as patient to trust God’s vision and see it unfold as they have been.

Where I used to see brokenness in my family, I now can see many ways that God has redeemed. I see how there is no condemnation in Christ. I see that God has been with us, cared about us, and given us purpose and identity despite all the patterns of sin we inherited. I see how He didn’t give up on any of us, first. From God, we all inherit His image and His purpose first, before any of the patterns of the world reach us. God came first, for each one of us. He is the ultimate legacy-provider. It is only by leaning on and trusting in Him that we can discover the abundant life He intends for us.

We can’t often do the right things, however, if we aren’t first in relationship with God. He and He alone knows what is right in every situation. We can listen to Him and lean on our understanding of who He is and how He made us to be, trusting that He made us exactly how we need to be to grow closer to Him and live our lives rightly. We can’t be like Jesus unless we live life with Him. In reading about Jesus’ life in the Gospels, we can see that He was very grateful to God, His Father. Gratefulness was part of His character.

Choosing to be grateful no matter the circumstances has made a profound impact in my life, and has helped me lean into God when it’s hardest. When God gives us the ability to appreciate the grace we already have but have just overlooked, it opens our hearts. Suddenly then, it becomes easier to believe that nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1:37).

Because of Jesus, we don’t have to carry the burdens of the past, the patterns of sin of our ancestors, the brokenness and grief that scarred them, their decisions, and their children and children’s children. Jesus died to set us free. He alone allows us the Way to have peace even in the midst of chaos. “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7). We have so much to be grateful for in Jesus.

Jesus is enough. He died for everything we ever did to separate ourselves from God long before you or I were born. He took care of the burdens of all generations so that we could live free. All we need to do is to trust Him at His Word, to believe that we really are redeemed. That we are rich in the Lord. We’re rich in His mercy, His provision of enough for us, His great love and generous grace, His gift of salvation, and His eternal Presence–nothing is more precious or valuable than that! That is our inheritance, as co-heirs with Christ!

I pray that we remember what has come before, and the story God is writing in your own family. That we are all able to experience a grateful heart no matter what we are facing. May we experience breakthrough in our thought patterns and ways of being that allows us to act like we’ve been set free–because that’s exactly what Jesus has done for us as part of His family (Ephesians 1:5), the family of God. Amen.

“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace” (Numbers 6:24-26).

“And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified” (Acts 20:32).

September 25, 2025September 25, 2025

The Spiritual Disciplines: Silence

One of my favorite things to do is take a silent retreat. It is impossible to predict how it will go; they can be both terrifying and peacefully beautiful. The presence of the Lord is both and for me that’s what a silent retreat is all about: seeking God’s Presence.

I’ve tried to take at least one such retreat each year for the last few years. The retreats don’t have to be very long, but they have become welcome times when I can find a place in the year from which to move forward. (I’ve never really been a big fan of January 1st as a fresh start.) Scripture describes time with God to be refreshing: “Repent . . . that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord…” (Acts 3:19-20). I’ve certainly found this to be True.

It seems odd at times to talk about being in God’s Presence as a discipline or spiritual practice; God is after all omnipresent. The Holy Spirit is always with us (John 14:12-13). However, hearing His still, small Voice sometimes does require intentionality. It takes effort to be silent, take the time to listen, and simply marvel at the fact that through Jesus, we can enjoy being with our holy Father. Sometimes it takes silence on our part to appreciate this profound gift.

I wrote about the practice of solitude years ago in a previous blog, TSD: Solitude. Solitude and silence often go together very closely, and often have the same broad goal of connecting with God. However, some of my most profound times of silence have not been in solitude, but in the company of other seekers of God’s Presence. Practicing silence in community is something very sacred, and I don’t have proper words for it, except to encourage you to experience it on a silent retreat for yourself.

Silence as a spiritual discipline implies visiting a place of inner quietness along with and often helped by getting in a quiet outer environment. As I’ve worked for the past year to disconnect from the things which tend to rev up my inner noise, I’ve noticed it’s become a little bit easier to rest. Resting in God’s Presence is something I have struggled with, but it is indeed what God asks of us. Like sheep, we are invited to rest in the care of God our Shepherd in trust that He has our lives in His hands, and that we don’t need to fear (Psalm 23).

Yet, being in God’s Presence, as I mentioned, can be terrifying, or at least something to prefer to avoid. Psalm 90 describes this, “You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence” (Psalm 90:8). Nothing is hidden when we come before God and enter His Presence intentionally. Suddenly, we may become acutely aware of our utter failure to hold up our end of the relationship with God, to be perfect as Jesus was. Thankfully, Jesus’ perfection covers us, having allowed us to be in God’s Presence in the first place. We are utterly dependent on Jesus, and in the practice of silence we can become more aware of this fact. “For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf” (Hebrews 9:24). We cannot give defense of our sins before God, as we so easily can try to do before people. In God’s Presence, we are completely undone. “Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob,” (Psalm 114:7). That’s the terrifying bit. The fear of God is a necessary part of relationship with Him.

But the beauty of it is worth that momentary discomfort. (No one said silence was easy!) After experiencing the humility that comes from being in His Presence, comes the incredible love and grace God gives freely and abundantly. His Presence is an expression of love for us; it is where we are transformed and healed. “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18). If you want to be changed, drawing near to God, being in His Presence, is the only way I’ve found leads to real transformation.

Silence is not easy and it takes some intention. But it is a practice, and it is one that can help our relationship with God if we are willing to take the risk. Practice silence in solitude and practice silence with others, but most of all, don’t hold back from all that is awaiting you in God’s Presence.

“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11).

“And he said, ‘My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest‘” (Exodus 33:14).

“Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!” (1 Chronicles 16:11).

July 1, 2021July 1, 2021

The Intimate Love of God

Half of 2021 has been harder for me personally than the whole of 2020 was. While I love writing and sharing with you on this blog, sharing has seemed next to impossible at times, even to those closest to me. I’m grateful you are here after all this time away. In the past 14 months, I’ve found amazing solace outdoors, taking in the beauty to be experienced on nature walks. Nature somehow has a way of putting me back in the present moment, and it (usually) helps to drown out the noise in my mind.

I remember one day on one of my walks this spring, a particular daffodil caught my eye. It was not yellow; no yellow at all, just all-white petals. I stopped to look closer. The daffodils all around it were either all yellow, or had white petals surrounding an egg yolk-yellow center. Even the inner trumpet was a pure white. Now, maybe this is completely ordinary to you and you’ve seen many a white daffodil, but it struck me as particularly beautiful. I just stood and stared for a while, in awe of what I’d found. It felt special to behold, like seeing a four-leaf clover, or a black squirrel. It felt meaningful somehow, and I was grateful to be there (and present) for it.

I don’t often mind walking alone, but a couple moments later, I felt a pang of loneliness, wishing I could share the beauty I had found. Feebly, honestly feeling a bit silly, I asked Jesus as I walked toward home, “Did you see that?” Immediately, He was there. This unexplainable knowing of His presence came over me, one I’ve had rarely. Somehow, I knew all at once that Jesus had been and was present with me, I knew He’d heard me, and I just knew the answer was yes, He’s seen it too. “More than that, I see you seeing it,” He seemed to say in my heart. And just like that, I had shared in the wonder I’d found, my longing fulfilled.

When we draw near in faith, Jesus is quick to fulfill our longings with His love.

Being loved by God and loving Him is so foundational to faith because it allows us to stop trying to fulfill our longings with anything but Him. Faithfully trusting His love, we grow in our own ability to show true love, even when we don’t want to (there are plenty of times when this is the case!). Within God’s love, we are set apart as Holy with Christ, aware of and operating from a place that draws from the well of His deep, complete love, completely different from the partial elements of love we may seek after in the world. I’d like to share a few beautiful passages that illustrate God’s incredible love for us.

A question God asked was about, arguably, the most damaging decision of all time. Not an obvious choice to show God’s love, but perhaps that is why I find it so remarkable. In Genesis 3:13, God asks Eve, “What is this you have done?,” when He knew she ate the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. But, did you know that this question isn’t only asked of Eve?

Many years later, after establishing the nation of Israel through Moses and Joshua, God also asks the same question of the wayward Israelites (Judges 2:2). God used the faithfulness of Moses and Joshua to set the stage for the next best version of Eden possible. Eden, after all, represents God’s set of ideal circumstances for humans to thrive in. However, the Israelites could not keep God’s commands or stay faithful to the Lord.

When God asks “What is this you have done,” again, hundreds of years later after He had freed His people from slavery in Egypt, built up their character through trial, and established everlasting covenants with them, I read this question with a tone of heartache, not just anger. With bitten-back tears, not only wrath. God wants the best for them, but He does not make decisions for people, or have faith for people–He opens Himself to the vulnerability of true relationship with humanity, and asks what we’ve done, perhaps not for His benefit but for ours. His love is apparent for Israel; even in their whoring against Him (Judges 2:17), this heart-wrenching question may be read from the heart of a Teacher, guiding the people to search their own hearts and ask it of themselves.

God heartbreakingly models what it looks like to love even when we don’t want to.

Hosea chapter 11 is quickly shooting to the top of my list of favorite Scriptures. In it is, to me, one of the most beautiful love letters in the Bible, straight from YHWH Himself to His beloved people Israel, here referred to as Ephraim, who was one of Joseph’s sons. I love to read this chapter as a love letter from our Father directly to us.

“When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. The more they were called, the more they went away; they kept sacrificing to the Baals and burning offerings to idols. Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk; I took them up by their arms, but they did not know I healed them. I led them with cords of kindness, with the bands of love…” (Hosea 11:1-4a).

God’s love for Israel is given imagery, and reading on we see that His love never stopped, no matter what the people did. In Hosea, God continues, “How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel? … My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender. I will not execute my burning anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God and not a man, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath.” (Hosea 11:8-9). God’s compassion for us is so clear in this passage. Despite His “burning anger,” which unchecked would destroy them, God’s compassion makes destroying His “child,” meaning His people, an impossible option due to His loving character.

The force of God’s love is stronger than anything, and will never fail because He is God.

Other passages that directly express God’s deep, intimate, and devoted love for us include this one from the prophet Isaiah who writes, “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold I have engraved you on the palms of my hands . . .” (Isaiah 49:15-16a).

Again we read the comparison of parent and child when it comes to the compassion of God. But I love this passage because it may refer to the nails driven through Jesus’ hands when He was crucified on the cross. Regardless, we are remembered by God on the very body of Jesus, by the scars from the nails that after His resurrection still engrave His hands (John 20:27), even as He is seated at God’s right hand. That is how intimately God loves us.

Remembering relationship with God is a recurring theme throughout in the Bible. Jesus can never forget us as this passage from Isaiah states, for we are engraved, if not on his body then on His heart. In turn, God implores His people not to forget what He has done for them, who He is, and who they are because of Him. He asks the same of us, to remember the ways in which He has been and continues to be faithful to each one of us.

Remembering Whose we are is a vital part of living in relationship with God.

“Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he my darling child? For as often as I speak against him, I do remember him still. Therefore my heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, declares the Lord” (Jeremiah 31:20). Because we read that God’s heart actually yearns for His people, even when they constantly are unfaithful, committing idolatry against Him generation after generation, I invite you to ponder for a moment the weight of the fact that David was referred to as “a man after my own heart” (Acts 13:22). Of calling Jesus, David’s descendant, His Son, “with you I am well pleased” (Mark 1:11), God shows us that personal devotion to our relationship means everything to Him. Yet, we must remember because we are so prone to fall in line with the Israelites’ way, living in a state of pride and attempting autonomy on our own strength apart from our fiercely loving Father.

In Christ, we no longer have to be afraid of the closeness of God’s love. I admit, Jesus’ presence can be difficult. For me it sometimes seems too good, and too close. But intimacy with God is something that we were made for before sin entered in. What does the enemy know of intimacy? It is innately human to feel the the pull of intimacy we were all born with. May we allow it to drive us to, like David, seek after God’s own heart for ourselves.

Intimacy with God is more innate to us than our sinful nature.

After I found the white daffodil, that same night I was talking to Jesus about the beauty of the experience, and I felt His almost-too-good presence near again. He spoke to my heart, “Yes, it was beautiful. I saw you seeing it. That’s the way I see you, you know. The way you stopped to see the beauty of that white daffodil is the way I look at you. You’re so beautiful, I stop and point at you and say to my Father and the Holy Spirit, ‘Look! Isn’t she beautiful?’”

Well, I just about lost it. Maybe you can imagine what hearing that meant to me in a season of isolation, and the intense intimacy of that. It was deeply personal and unique, and yet this is Jesus’ heart towards everyone, even with a “silly” faith the size of a mustard seed that feebly reaches out to Him, He is there for us. Please hear my heart and know that I am not sharing this to brag by any means, but to express the intimacy with which He loves and knows you just as well, and certainly immeasurably more. We are seen, known, appreciated, and loved deeply by Jesus whether we have a relationship with Him or not, and when we reach out to connect with Him, there is truly nothing better. He fulfills our need for love both in the ways we can understand, and far, far beyond them as well. For me that day, it was through a flower. For you, I hope you remember today that He loves you with an unending love, and experiencing that is only ever a reach of your heart in faith away.

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of Life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. …” (Romans 8:1-3a).

August 22, 2020August 22, 2020

Characteristics of God: Restorer of Wholeness

We might hear the message that we are whole and good enough just as we are. There is of course an important level of truth to that idea. It appeals to the best parts of who we are as uniquely crafted, individually beautiful humans; there are certainly times when it feels true. But we must be careful not deceive ourselves, either.

This is the first post in the new blog series, Characteristics of God, unpacking the questions, Who is God and What is He like?

On the level of our souls, there is a constant need in our brokenness that only Jesus’ work on the cross can fill to wholeness again. Who we are IS good enough, but only in Jesus. Inherited and committed sin leaves us in a state of brokenness which we simply cannot restore without Jesus. We were made for relationship with Him, to walk alongside Him in the Garden (Genesis 3:8-9).

God never intended us to be broken people in the first place.

The world has tried to make us forget about the consequences of sin. It distracts us in some surprisingly predictable ways. Worldly glory is not sustainable and does not satisfy. Only what we were made for, right relationship with God, can truly satisfy us. Who we truly are and who we were made to be by God is not understood by the world, which tells us only partial truths about ourselves. Pride and fear become traps that some cannot escape. But the whole truth is available in Christ, who sets us free:

“the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23, NIV).

The Garden of Eden was the ideal place that God carefully created for us to dwell in with Him. He made it perfect and holy. We do not have many details about the Garden in the Bible, but we do know that trees grew there and bore fruit (Genesis 2:9) and two very important ones were placed in the center; there was a river flowing from it (2:10), animals were allowed into it, and it was set up with an East-facing entrance (3:24). I like to imagine that perhaps God particularly enjoyed watching the sunrise.

When sin entered in, we couldn’t dwell with God’s presence and still live. We were banished from this most holy place. We couldn’t walk next to God anymore, as we had been intended for. We couldn’t talk with Him while watching how His facial expressions or His posture communicated to us as we now do with friends.

There was a time when God literally walked beside us.

After we were forced to leave the Garden, God’s actual presence (as opposed to a burning bush, a pillar of fire, etc.) was much more scarce, and His face was hidden from us.

But thankfully, we weren’t the only ones unhappy about it. Sin and all, God didn’t intend for us to stay away from Him. For one example, in Exodus, Moses and the Israelite leaders are allowed to eat in God’s presence on Mount Sinai, to celebrate the covenant made between them and God, “Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of lapis lazuli, as bright blue as the sky. But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank” (Exodus 24:10-11).

God longs to enjoy us and give us a way to enjoy Him, despite the consequences of our sin!

Since we left the Garden, God has been working on the steps of restoration to bring us back to wholeness, culminating in the Person of Jesus. This celebration of the covenant, the Israelites eating and drinking in the presence of God, was a huge step in that journey of restoring humanity to wholeness.

Just a few chapters later in Exodus, God gives Moses the details for constructing the tabernacle. The tabernacle, though a movable tent, was precisely described, and it even was made to face the same direction as Eden. Like Eden, it was intended to be a place where God’s presence would be with His people. The tabernacle, designed by God Himself but made with human hands, was symbolic of the completeness and wholeness of the Garden (Ex. 26:6).

We lack nothing in Him; in Him, we are whole.

Because God’s goodness was enough to make up for our lack, His infinite goodness can even reach beyond all our brokenness and beyond every tear.

Even though we inherited sin through our human family as descendants of of Adam and Eve, through Jesus we are grafted into His family. In the lineage of Jesus, He allows us the Way to take part in His inheritance of life instead.

Opposite to the world’s system of give and take, in God’s Kingdom it is not about what we can do to get favor from Him, it is what He did for us in adopting us into His eternal family.

Eternal life is inherited, not earned.

We are no longer orphans in our brokenness, but instead we are restored to wholeness in our relationship with our loving, good, and gracious Father. There is nothing we could ever do that could earn life. We are fully dependent on God for our life and inheritance in eternal life.

He is generous to give us more than we could ever deserve, restoring us to wholeness.

It’s not about what we deserve but about who God is.

None of us who are in Christ get what we deserve, and that’s a good thing! He is generous to us even though we don’t deserve it because He loves us.

Take heart, friends; there is a special place for those who are desperate for the wholeness found in Him–a place that He put ahead of His own life! He died to make us whole and complete, not lacking anything. Jesus restores us and renews us not just once, but continually, every day, every hour, every moment. He prays to the Father for us, even now (Romans 8:34).

The symbols of wholeness in the Bible of the Garden and the tabernacle remind me of how Jesus desires us to be unified as one (John 17:11 & 21-32), as He prays to the Father,

“that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (John 17:21).

As close as Jesus is with the Father, that’s how close God wants to be with us. He wants this for us and our good so much that He was willing to die for it; for you, and for me.

God went to every last measure to restore us to Him. There was, is, and will be nothing that could separate us from His love (Romans 8:39). May we take great hope in this amazing picture of God’s restoration of our wholeness.

“because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you” (James 1:3-5).