Divine Intentions: God’s Plan For Your FutureSample

BACK TO EDEN

Have you ever felt a strange longing for something you couldn’t put into words, a yearning for something your soul knows you’re missing?

This mysterious desire is awakened in all of us when our spirits are transformed at salvation. It is a God-given longing for the kind of life and relationships that display what Christ has done in us. It has its own energy because this desire comes from the Holy Spirit. These longings are like flashing signals in the heart of a Christ follower. They are pulling you away from a lesser life that is no longer your home. It is the deep calling to deep. It is your soul reaching out to the living God. It is the unquenchable knowledge that God has something more, something better, for you. 

We can understand memories in our minds because we all have them. But how can we remember or long for a place that we have never experienced?

The answer is profound. You have a spiritual heritage that your soul is familiar with. Whether you realize it or not, you are connected and affected by a past that you are now a part of. Your spirit is awakened to this reality when it is made alive in Christ. You begin to long for what you should have because now in Christ, it is possible to have it. Your soul becomes curious about its original past when you start to dream of your God-given future.

Our original home was a place named Eden. When God first created man, He placed him in this garden of perfection, an extreme paradise. Man was given a purpose: to take care of the garden and to give names to all of the animals. How awesome that must have been! Best of all, man had intimate fellowship with God. There were no barriers between creation and Creator. There was no sin, nor the insecurity it fosters. 

Our longing for home is more than an inner lament over the messed-up world we live in. These desires are deeper than our regrets. Our very souls know we no longer live in the tranquility of Eden. We know there is something missing—and we want it back! Our deepest desires are for the beautiful intimacy that we have lost. God sees these desires like He hears our prayers and He longs to give us that closeness again.