TWO TREES IN THE GARDEN OF OUR HEARTS

Part 2: The Root of Fear

 

From our last blog, we saw how Adam and Eve were FREE and INDEPENDENT of God to do whatever they wanted to do, but yet they felt lost, rejected, alone, and afraid in the amazing Garden of Eden. The tree they thought would make them WISE, as the evil one promised, made them AFRAID. The moment they ate the fruit from the ‘The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil,’ death overcame them… death for them was FEAR. And out of this overwhelming sense of fear, we can see them spiraling down from the mountain of Life into the dreadful sea of death from that point forward. The root of the tree was FEAR producing both good and evil fruit, which produced ONLY death to their souls!

 

What is fear you may ask? Merriam Webster describes fear as:

• an unpleasant often strong emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of danger
• a state marked by this emotion
• anxious concern
• reason for alarm
• a feeling of something is going to happen unless I do something (my definition)

 

The Bible describes fear as:

• to terrify
• be in awe of or to reverence
• to be afraid or in terror of

 

Adam and Eve lived in a Garden, loved, protected, safe, and secured by the Life and love of their Father, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, but eating from ‘The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil’ changed everything. The world around them no longer felt safe, everything they saw was painted with darkness and fear. Because, their spirits were dead and disconnected from light, love, peace, joy, and contentment… they felt, “WE MUST DO SOMETHING!”

 

The voice of fear always compels us to DO SOMETHING! Sometimes it doesn’t just compels us, IT DRIVES US LIKE A HERD OF CATTLE TO REACT! Unlike the voice of our Father and Lord, THEY LEAD US, URGE US, OR NUDGE US, AND GUIDE US TO RESPOND.  Let me explain how fear makes me feel. When I am afraid, I feel my stomach twisting into a knot and my thoughts twirl a million miles a minute in my mind trying to figure out what to do. Sometimes I get these anxious feelings in my body and an overwhelming sense of, “I got to do something, just don’t sit here.” Sometimes, I feel dread or torment by my thoughts and feelings. This is ‘the flesh’ shaking ‘The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil’ for me to come and eat from its fruit of death so I can feel better. When I go to the tree, it gives me ideas, strategies, knowledge, and information, etc. of how to remedy my situation. I promise you, the ideas all sound good and may even work. But my Lord stands amid my Garden and says, “Tresca, ask me what I think or what to do? Ask me how I feel about it? Ask me what my will and purposes are for this situation, so we can handle it together?” And then, He reminds me of the scripture;

“Trust in the Lord with all of your heart AND lean not on your own understanding. In ALL of your ways, ask Him, inquire of Him, and He will direct my footsteps.” Proverbs 3:5. Paraphrase.

With those words in mind, I have to decide… to eat from the forbidden tree of ‘The Knowledge of Good and Evil,’ or from the Spirit, ‘The Tree of Life.’ Which one do you prefer?

 

Fear is the driving force behind most of our decisions and not trust. The world, Satan created around us, lives, feasts off, and thrives off of ‘The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil’ and unfortunately, so does the Body of Christ. We quote scriptures and sing spiritual songs but most of our hours are spent with fear and feasting on the forbidden tree. Here are some manifestations of fear:

 

• I am always anxious about my life, my children, my future, my job and the world I live in.
• I keep reminding myself, “God is with me, God loves me, He will not leave me.”
• I am easily stressed by issues in my life, like work, family, and others.
• I over think my decisions trying to make sure they are the right ones.
• I am trying to fix myself and those around me so things go smoothly.
• I don’t know how to sit, rest, or relax without my mind wandering all over the place.
• I am always busy trying to figure out the next steps or plans for the ‘what ifs.’
• I worry about a lot of things, but I justify that I am just ‘being concerned.’
• I don’t sleep well at night because I am constantly thinking about something.
• I find myself watching television, on my phone, websites, doing a lot of activities so I don’t have to face my fears.
• I’d rather read the Bible occasionally, go to church, or do other spiritual activities rather than talk with my Lord and let Him know what I am thinking or feeling or ask Him what He thinks about my decisions.
• I don’t feel safe with the Lord, so I keep a distance with Him and I am good with that.

 

This list can go on and on. We all eat from ‘The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil’ and we keep eating from it because it is all we know, or no one has taught us about the other beautiful tree in the garden of our hearts, ‘The Tree of Life’ where our Papa, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit live and eat from daily. My prayer is one day as you discover the Truth about ‘The Tree of Life,’ it will become the ONLY tree you’d want to eat from, FOREVER.

 

Prayer: Thank you, Papa, for sharing your truth about fear as being the root of ‘The Knowledge of the Tree of Good and Evil’ and how it brings forth death in my life if I continue to eat from it. Papa, I desire You and You alone, draw me to You when I turn to ‘the flesh,’ ‘The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.’ It only feeds me death, but I desire to always experience Your Life. AMEN