I love going to Disney World. I loved going when my children were little and I love going now with my grandchildren. On one of our first family trips, I tried to get my two girls in shape for the walking I knew lay ahead of them. They were 3 and 5 They weren’t toddlers anymore so I knew they would have to be big girls and step up to the plate and walk on their own. Everyday before the trip, we would take a walk around the block. We would discuss how we would each do lots of walking through Disney World, and how they were getting too big to be carried, and too big to ride in a stroller. Each of us needed to get into shape before our trip. The vacation finally arrived and they loved being in Disney World, but toward the last few days my middle child had all the walking she could handle. She knew all she had to do was walk beside her PaPaw and say she was tired and he would pick her up. My dad, God bless him, di just that. He lifted her up in his arms and carried her the rest of the day. Her cousin asked her, “Are you happy now?”
The last trip Kevin and I made with our grandsons was one of those cherished memories I have tucked in my heart. I had a flashback to the above story though. Our youngest grandson was two at the time. We were walking to our Lua with Mickey. It was at least a mile from our room. Lucas was bee bopping his way toward the beach, then stopped suddenly in front of Pop Pop; lifted his arms up and said, “I’m tired, carry me.” Pop Pop, God bless him, carried Lucas for the rest of the way.
I recall these memories because that is all we have to do with God. Stop. Lift up our arms, and say, “Carry me Papa Abba.”
We’ve walked with Adam and Eve for all these days now. At times their journey has been mine. Their rebellion has been my rebellion. Their first breath became my first spirit filled breath. Their wonder and amazement in the garden became my wonder and awe of what they must have experienced in the garden during the days of their innocence. In some ways, I find my life wrapped up in their’s. How Eve’s arms must have ached when she lost two sons in a single day. I have had those type of days when I dropped each child off at their college dorms. What joy she had when she gave birth to Seth, the appointed child the Lord gave her to replace the one who was murdered. I have felt that joy upon the birth of my three children and on the day I got to hold my grandchildren for the first time. Each of us can find elements of their story in our own lives I am sure. So close with me the last chapter of “Eden Calling.” Then wait with me as I write “And they walked with God.”
The LORD GOD watched over the comings and goings of Adam and Eve and their family for all their days after the departure from Eden. Everything that happened to them both good and evil happened under God’s watchful eye and He does not sleep nor does He slumber. Every event in their lives happened as it was sifted through the LORD’S fingers. Their choice had brought on the evil that was spreading through out His creation. This made Him angry. He knew it never had to be this way, but this was what they had chosen. Because He was holy he could not ignore this disgrace in creation, but because He was also merciful, He would always have a remnant that He would choose for Himself. Holiness and mercy are intertwined into the LORD’S being. He cannot be Holy without being merciful. He cannot show mercy without showing His Holiness. He is a paradox. His mission is redemption for fallen man. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. Not even murder. Nothing is to far out of His redemptive reach. His mission is to put an end to our deepest troubles. Sin and rebellion and death are not too big for Him to handle. Our sins encumber us weighing us down. We are the little children that lag farther and farther behind our Father. “I am too tired,” we cry to Him. “Carry us.” We stop and lift up our weary arms. The LORD stops and lifts us on His mighty shoulders and carries us the last mile. He gives endurance and strength to everyone who lifts up their arms. He plants Calvary’s tree in another garden far away. God tells us, “To everyone who is victorious, I will give fruit from the tree of life in the paradise of God. No longer will there be a curse upon anything.” One day in that beautiful city of God we will eat of the Tree of Life once again. “On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations.” Revelation 22:2
“Be still and know I am God,” the Creator commands of us. “Be still and listen. Can you hear it? Can you hear Eden calling?”
One of my favorite worship songs is “Still” by Hillsong United. Take a moment with me. Click on the link below. Stop. Lift up your hands toward heaven and say, “I am tired Father Abba. Carry me.”
Another great analogy, I do remember Magen getting your dad to carry her and I do remember Lucas doing the same, and in both cases nothing made me and I’m sure your dad happier than when both kids raised their arms. Because honestly all along we we’re both waiting for the chance to swoop down and grab them up. Thats all GOD is waiting on, for us to reach to him and wait as he swoops us up.