A Place Called Delight

I was in a meditative prayer session recently and asked God what he wanted me to know and the word “garden” came to me quietly, like a whisper. I jotted it down and have been mulling it over ever since.

The longer I sit with it the more it feels like an invitation.

Naturally, I headed to Genesis 2 and 3, but with a few new questions in mind prompted from my spirit: what does it mean to live IN the garden? What does it mean to live FROM the garden? What does it mean to BE the garden? 

Life in the garden meant no shame. Nothing was covered up – no part of the body and no part of identity. Adam and Eve were unashamed of how they looked and who they were. They freely expressed their authentic selves. No fear of failure, no fear of judgement.

So, then, to live IN the garden is to live as one who never doubts or loses sight of being made in the image of God... and to always hear the Creator’s affirmation, “it is very good”.

To live in the garden means to be planted in His acceptance, to be rooted there, and to grow accordingly. Savor the notion of that for just a moment – imagine yourself growing according to acceptance.

I can get pulled away from that revelation when I compare myself to other people - their accomplishments and pursuits. All their activity. I took a break from social media for an extended period and when I checked back in – yep, they’re all still richer and thinner than I am.

What does it mean to live FROM the garden? I think it means I am shaped by it and informed by it because it is the source of my being. My starting point. Where I come from. What I’m made of. It’s my filter, my mindset, my perspective. It’s in my DNA. It’s how I perceive, how I know. It’s how I am in the world.

I think God wants us to get this. I think he wants us to be uprooted out of shame and fear and securely planted in the garden, to live unselfconscious, unashamed, naked and real in his presence, connected to him. Remember when Adam and Eve hid from God and he asked (in what I imagine was a forlorn voice) “Where are you?” He knew where they were geographically. I think he was asking where the real Adam and Eve had gone.

What if we ARE the garden? The place where he plants and cultivates. The place of beauty and fragrance. The place he enjoys, where he slows down and strolls and breathes in. Just imagine our very selves as the fertile place of possibility and life that reflects and expresses his creative genius

One last thing.

In Hebrew, the word Eden means “delight”.  Let that sink in.

In light of that meaning, let’s revisit my original questions: What does it mean to live IN the delight of God? How does that change my perspective of myself? What weight does that remove?

What does it mean to live FROM the delight of God? If his delight is my life source, what just got extravagantly nourished and empowered in me?

And, finally, what does it mean to BE the delight of God? What clutter does that eliminate from my identity?

Listen for the whisper. God is calling us back to the garden. It’s where we were always meant to live, to flourish and thrive. It’s who we were always meant to be. The gate is wide open, and the invitation is there to reconnect with the truest and best version of ourselves. He never intended for us to leave.