"You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy." (Psalm 30:11)
Yesterday was Ash Wednesday. Today is the first of the forty days known as Lent, a season in which Christ-followers grapple in self-examination, with a mourning and heightened awareness of sin coexistent with the imminent, unstoppable joy of Easter. Like many things in our faith, it is a paradox: the already-but-not-yet, the tension of being imperfect while being made perfect while already being seen by the Father as perfect.
During Thursday morning prayer in the back of Grey Dog, three sisters and I were... naturally... discussing the season. I made an offhand comment which I now know (after being bowled over by the Spirit's discourse on it) requires some expansion. The comment concluded with something like this:
"I wonder how much more we appreciate the Garden and the process of renewal having had experienced the Fall."
The idea, without straying into relativism, being that we cannot appreciate the fullness of something without having had experienced its opposite. I believe it was in response to the Psalm 30 verse above: our joy and dancing is more meaningful having had experienced the paralyzing throes of sorrow.
This thought then occurred: perhaps this is not by accident, but what God intended.
Here are two observations, one of which is more directly supported by Scripture. One is that God, being all powerful, could have prevented the Fall. Two, and this purely from my observation, is that God seems to enjoy thwarting Satan's plans. Especially when Satan seems to have succeeded.
"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28)
This verse is the mantra of hope for when bad, unexplainable things happen in our lives. The usual interpretation is that God, in his infinite goodness and power, is capable of ordering the weave of history to make bad things ultimately have good consequences that make the bad thing "worth it", with the final result being the restoration of the earth and his people. It is also my support for Observation #2, with this application:
Christ's crucifixion and death is possible the greatest tragedy of human experience, the moment that appeared to be Satan's greatest achievement. At the exact same moment, God set in motion Christ's resurrection and ascension--ultimately Satan's defeat.
Likewise, the Fall of man in the Garden was a moment of victory for Satan. And yet at the same instance, God set in motion his plan to redeem and renew us. Furthermore, humanity was put on course to realize a greater appreciation for God and was what lost.
After all, if we had fully comprehended God's goodness and glory, for his personal and intimate nearness, would we ever have eaten the apple?
