When Life Doesn’t Match Your Dreams releases February 19, 2019. Each chapter features one woman of the Old Testament – twelve in all. In preparation for the book’s release, I thought it might be fun to take a snapshot view of these women and see what writing about them was like behind the scenes.
The first woman in the book – and in the world – is Eve. So since I tend to think chronologically, let’s start with her.
Eve is a fascinating woman in Scripture. As a novelist, I think in story and pictures. So before I could tackle her struggle of – Will Life Ever Be Right Again? – I took a step back and tried to imagine Eden.
Have you ever wondered what life was like in Eden? Artists have tried to capture it, but I think even the most beautiful paradise on earth cannot compare with what we wish we could see with human eyes. Did the animals speak to the humans? Could you taste color? Did they hear the brush of angel wings or see the water canopy that enveloped the earth? When God walked with them in the cool of the day, were His footfalls soft or thunderous?
When the birds sang, did they harmonize all at once? Did the water from the rivers taste different than water we know today? What was it like to cultivate ground that never knew thorns or briars or weeds?
If there was a cool of the day, did the temperature ever get too hot? Can you imagine a body so perfect you never knew pain – not even a common cold or headache?
This is just part of how I imagine Eden. And Adam and Eve were king and queen of their paradise – except that God was the one over all. Still, God gave them authority to rule the earth. They were only asked to obey Him in one thing. Don’t. Eat. The. Fruit.
Of course, we know the outcome. We’ve been living with it ever since. No one is born into a perfect world any more.
Can you imagine how that made Eve feel?
Have you ever done something that changed your life forever and you knew you could never go back?
Perhaps you accidentally hit a pedestrian while driving because you didn’t see them and they didn’t make it. Or perhaps you made a choice then wished you could undo it but it was too late.
Maybe the last words you said to someone were harsh, and then something happened and you couldn’t apologize or make it right. Or maybe you got caught up into something you knew was wrong and lost your job in the process.
There are many scenarios of life changes, and we can’t go back. And yes, I wish Eve had never talked to the serpent or even wanted to take a taste of that fruit. I wish she hadn’t wanted what she couldn’t have. I wish she and Adam had passed God’s test.
But of course, we can’t rewrite history. We can only learn from the lessons of those who have walked before us. And don’t you know that God offered Eve a future of hope? Yes, they were forced to leave that amazing Garden, and life was now darker than it had been. But God promised that one day a Redeemer would come and make right what Eve got wrong.
The Bible is one big book of God’s love story of redemption. He started with a promise to Eve. Isn’t it nice to know that He made the promise to a woman? We have always, always been valued in God’s eyes. It is only sin that made division between the sexes. One day, we won’t face that any more. One day things will be right again.
Eve can teach us much. I hope you will join me when When Life Doesn’t Match Your Dreams releases and walk back in time to see and hear and feel and apply her story to our own.
Be blessed~
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