In my frustration, God patiently reminded me of another “Happiest Place on Earth,” His perfect and peaceful Garden of Eden, meant to provide all that was needed for those living there. A sinful choice was made in Eden by the residents, changing the experience of the Garden, and affecting every family from then on.
“Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all men, because all sinned.” (Romans 5:12)
Sin ruins happy experiences and affects those around us beyond the experience. Left alone to our own choices, we are without hope and dead in our sin. But I have good news, dear friend, because God’s Word doesn’t end in verse 12 of Romans 5. By God’s grace, He offered a gift to us through His Only Son, Jesus Christ, in the wake of our sinfulness that can affect any person.
“But the gift is not like the trespass. For if by the one man’s trespass the many died, how much more have the grace of God and the gift overflowed to the many by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ…For just as through one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so also through the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.” (Romans 5:15, 19)
Happiness on this earth is temporary. The effects of sin are so widespread that we will always be disappointed. But receiving God’s grace and forgiveness while trusting Jesus with your life will prepare you for the day your Creator brings you into the glorious “Happiest Place of Heaven” to live with Him forever.
Now that’s the place I want to be, where reality exceeds far beyond my expectations. Until then, follow Jesus closely and trust Him completely. He not only knows the way, He is the Way, and that is enough.
Tamar Miller