Gannah

 "Directionless lives are given meaning in relationship with God. This relationship is grown in community and through discipleship, but also by establishing and developing our personal devotional lives."

Spending time with God is so important, yet we allow busyness to crowd our day. Adam and Eve walked daily with God. The Hebrew word for garden is ‘gannah’, which means, "a covered or hidden place," So every day Adam and Eve spent time alone with God in a secret place. Away from worldly distractions, and even 'good' distractions. Yes guys, read it again, I said good distractions. Sometimes we get so caught up in things that, yes, are good, but cause us to slowly get further and further away from God. For example, a ministry. From the outside this word "ministry" sounds GREAT, right?

Well it reminds me of a story I heard. And I'm going to have to paraphrase because I don't remember the entirety of the details, but here it is.

A Mom was going to pick her kids up from a babysitter one day. Now the babysitter had had the children all day, and was probably very tired, but the Mom felt God telling her to go pray for a woman from her church. She kept driving, because SHE felt the right thing to do would be to pick up the children, but soon enough she made a U-turn and headed to the woman's house. When she got there the neighbors told her that the lady had been taken to the hospital, so she drove to the hospital to find her. She got there, asked for the woman, and headed to her room. She walked through the door of the room and heard the lady exclaim "OH thank God! I prayed somebody would come, but no one had, and then you showed up!"

Even when something seems like it is good, just because it is a ministry, or just because it is preparing you for your future, just because you can make money or gain something good from it.... doesn't make it God.

Maybe there is a better way to gain the "something good," and maybe that way is by spending time with God so you can know what he wants you to do. Not the people around you. Not what the peer-pressure wants you to do. And maybe when you do that, you'll get a "something good" better than you ever would've on your own.

'When they heard the sound of God strolling in the garden in the evening breeze, the Man and his Wife hid in the trees of the garden, hid from God . God called to the Man: “Where are you?” '

Genesis 3:8-9