When God is Quiet.

As I have mentioned before I don’t like to wait.  I don’t know if it is a spiritual flaw or something else, but I avoid waiting.  However, the reality of life is that we will always have something to wait for.  Right now I am waiting for a mechanic.  The vehicle I was riding in decided it did not want to go to the village today.  So we sit and wait. 

In this moment I have had some time to stop and think through the question, Paul Grenier, that you asked on Facebook. 

“Where have you felt the presence of God in your new home?”  

It's Shocking

Early on in our journey one of the most common questions about moving, and living, cross culturally is the question of cultural differences, and the idea of culture shock.  

WE LANDED!

We landed! Welcome to Africa.  We spent the last year, and some change, in France, learning French.  We changed the country of our destination in Africa.  And our family grew by another member now we are a family of 5.  And as the Language learning center in France was the most fertile place in the world we are expecting to be a family of 6 in July.  Ummm yeah, that was unexpected. 

My Contradiction

I am a walking contradiction.  I love to write. I love create.  In middle school I often tried to make cartoon characters and tell their stories.  My life’s ambition was to be a cartoonist. 

But, I had a problem.  I struggled with “learning disabilities” (I think the official term was Perceptually Impaired).  Specifically, my impairment existed in the domain of language (though numbers were affected as well).  Trying to understand language was trying to stop my feet from sinking into the sands of spelling, grammar, pronunciation, and syntax as the tides of education swept over me. I struggled through middle school, high school, and college, gradually finding less and less joy in writing and creating.

The Long Road to Life

Here's the next question from Aaron:

“If Adam and Eve had repented of their sin, would they have still gotten kicked out of the garden?”

Aaron, I find your question interesting and it captures some misconceptions people have about sin and forgiveness.  To answer your question succinctly: yes, God would kick Adam and Eve from the garden, even if they repented instead of trying to hide their sin.  With our western American sensibilities, we cringe at this answer. The moment Adam and Eve reached for that fruit they took the long road away from the garden.  They could never again live in this paradise. 

Now to the work of demonstrating this.  There are several elements of your question we need to examine flesh out the answer.  First, what exactly happens in sin.  Second, what is the nature of repentance.  Finally, what is the nature of forgiveness and restoration.