Radiant with joy

Psalm 34:5 “those who look to Him for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces” New Living Translation

In the garden of Eden, it seems Adam and Eve were clothed in God’s glorious light. “Yet You made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor” Psalm 8:5 NLT The Hebrew word for ‘crowned’ in this passage can mean ‘to surround’ and ‘to encircle (for…protection)’.

When Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, their lives changed drastically. Suddenly they were barraged with many difficult emotions they hadn’t experienced before -confusion, sorrow, guilt, horror, frustration and especially shame. Because of shame, they were strongly compelled to hide. “And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden’. Genesis 3:8

This is what shame does. It causes one to hide from people and especially God, because you feel unworthy of attention, love, forgiveness, being heard or even acknowledged.

Our Lord and Friend took our shame on the cross and He sent His Holy Spirit to empower us to walk out of shame. Our Father’s plan is that our faces would be radiant as we look to Him. Shame is a fiercely emotional battle and a spiritual one. Ephesians 4:23 exhorts us to “be renewed in the spirit of your mind.” We are overcomers in Christ. Perfect love casts out fear.

Our Beloved calls to us – Song of Songs 4:7 “every part of you is so beautiful my darling, perfect is your beauty, without flaw within” .

Shalom

Kath