The sky grew dark. The air changed and became cold. The birds stopped their singing and the sheep scattered from the lion's side. They could hear the hissing laughter from the serpent as the fruit dropped from their hands.
The garden was no longer eden.
A sharp pain pierced their bodies. The ground cracked beneath their feet. The animals fled, the flowers faded and all that was beautiful and good broke into pieces.
And since that day, we have continued to break.
You have felt the brokenness.
You have heard the music stop playing, you have watched the lights go out and you have felt your world stop turning. All that you thought was glorious became gore.
The phone call came. The doctor walked in. Your spouse walked out. The breathing stopped.
And your heart broke.
The goodbye songs, the breakup songs and the songs when everything fell apart don't come close to expressing the shattering because words can't describe it, pictures can't capture it, and nobody - nobody - gets it. You hardly get it yourself. All you know is that your life, at this moment, is in pieces.
Adam and Eve experienced it when one bite brought all of creation to ruins. Immediately the relationship they had with the Creator was severed and, piece by piece, everything crumbled. Everything. With us, it's the same as we wake up each morning thirsting for the intimate presence of our Maker. Why? Because we are broken. We stumble around in the darkness, we work hard to hide our nakedness and we cry for perfect peace in a world of chaos because we are people echoing the fall. We are in pieces.
Solomon lamented and wrote "It's all meaningless! It's all empty!" and that is exactly how you feel when, in one split second, your heart is ripped out and shattered. That is what your soul cries out when, in one brief moment, everything you held dear is demolished.
But don't despair when your eden falls. Joy can still be found in the wreckage. Only those in pieces can feel the hands of God picking them up. Only the broken can feel the mending and only the hurting can experience the healing.
God knew when the world would crack and when eden would become a wasteland. He knew how our souls would fall into darkness, how our bodies would decay, and how sin would crush every area of our lives. He knew we would be nothing but shattered fragments of His image walking on cursed ground yet He lovingly and tenderly handles us day by day, piece by piece, as we await Eden once more.
There is joy in the wounds, joy in the ever present pain because then and only then do we meet the Healer.
Do not bloody your hands trying to fix what sin broke. His fingers, stained with Calvary's blood are piecing you back together moment by moment, day by day. Let the pieces wait with the rest of creation for the glorious resurrection that is coming when finally we will be with Jesus and be whole again. And in the waiting, let each shattered piece cry "Hallelujah!" to the Maker and Mender who lifts the fallen and redeems all the broken things.
For more on this topic, study:
Psalm 6:3,6; Psalm 33:22; Psalm 38:15; Psalm 56:8; Psalm 71:14; Psalm 88:4; Psalm 147:3; Matthew 8:7; Galatians 3:13; Revelation 21:4