I receive amazing photographs from my daughter and her family in Colorado, and most of the time, I’m delighted to vicariously enjoy their love for the outdoors.
We don’t have those kinds of outdoors in Florida.
When I got the pictures of their time in the mountains, I was jealous.
I grew up in the western suburbs of Chicago, and we had streets named after the trees that lined them, with spectacular colors: the bright red and deep scarlet of the maple trees, the russet and gold of the oak trees, and the golden yellow of the elm trees.
In Orlando, we don’t really have seasons, per se. We have the green season, which we’re in now, with plenty of rain and sunshine, and the less-than-green season, which happens during the drier years.
I have always loved fall; it was my favorite season until we moved to Florida. Now I have to be content with Instagram pictures of folks up north going to see “the colors”. The only colors here are the yellowy-brown leaves on the dying plants on my porch.
We all want what we don’t have; human nature tends toward satisfying what we think we want and need. In an age of rapid attainment, we don’t even appreciate waiting for what we want. Everything needs to be fast; desire demands instant gratification.
It’s always been this way. When God created the universe and all that is in it, He saw what He had made and declared it good. When He created people, He said they were very good. He created people, not from a sense of loneliness, but from a huge overflow of His divine love He wanted to share with people. God desired fellowship with us, an opportunity for us to participate in a relationship with Him.
God planted a garden in Eden, with all types of beautiful trees which produced delicious fruit. He placed Adam and Eve here, telling them to cultivate and tend he garden. They had freedom to eat any of the fruit of any of the trees except one: they were not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It was the only limitation He gave them.
We have no idea how long they lived in the garden, freely fellowshiping with the Lord, speaking with Him, experiencing a perfect relationship with Him. They were content, working together and enjoying the beauty of their surroundings.
Until they were challenged with desire.
The serpent, a radiant creature that didn’t cause Eve to be afraid, posed a question to Eve. “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” Genesis 3:1. It was a shrewd question; he didn’t outright question God’s authority, but he twisted the truth enough to confuse Eve. She explained that there was only one tree they couldn’t eat from, and that if they ate that fruit or even touched it, they would die.
She confused what God had said.
The serpent immediately contradicted what the Lord had said. Instead of understanding that God made limitations for their protection, the serpent said that God was keeping them from becoming like Him.
He changed the narrative.
Eve saw that the fruit looked good, and she wanted it. She ate it and gave some to Adam to eat. Immediately, they knew shame and fear, not emotions they’d felt before. When God confronted them, and they tried to shift blame, He told them that life wouldn’t be so kind to them. Work would be hard; birthing children would be painful. And He evicted them from the garden.
All because they went after what they thought they wanted. Desire drove action.
Our desires can cause difficult consequences if we choose to follow them without thought.
There are reasons we can’t have everything we want. God protects us and provides for us when He says no to a request. But life is tempting, and it’s easy to desire what we shouldn’t have.
I want to have my yard surrounded by color, but that won’t happen while I live in Florida. Learning contentment and embracing disappointment are character growth steps that make me a better person.
How hard is it to say no to what may not be good for you?
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