The trouble with the night session of WIW is...

I can't sleep when I get home. New ideas toss and turn in my brain even after I wear out my husbands ears for an hour or so after I get home.

Earlier I had posted about our small group study last Wed. breaking into song. We sang Psalter Hymnal #32, which is from Psalm 32? Well I wanted to share with the night session our experience on Wednesday, so we gathered into the front few rows of the sanctuary and Jan Miller led us in the first 2 verses of "How Blest Is He Whose Trespass" has freely been forgiven, who's sin is wholly covered before the sight of heaven...

And then, interestingly enough....during the video, we turn to....none other than Psalm 32. The women thought I had planned it.....nope. I watched the video for the first time with the group last night, I had no idea Psalm 32 was in it, and Marjie dD who picked the hymn for us originally on Wed. morning had no way of knowing it would be in our next video either.

Wow, I no longer believe in coincidence. I think God has a great sense of humor...I picture Him thinking...here this will really freak her out!!!!

So why I couldn't sleep...In Sunday School as a kid, when we learned about the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve realized they were naked after sin, and covered themselves. I took that literally to mean naked means sin means we need to cover ourselves from nakedness...are you with me? Did you learn it the same?

So in last night's study we learned that "naked" for Adam and Eve didn't mean no clothes naked like it does for us. Adam and Eve had never seen clothes so how could they compare naked with not naked in terms of clothing. Adam and Eve felt their shame, they were naked before God as in, knowing they had sinned. They tried to cover their shame, not neccesarily their body parts.

Then God comes and he "covers" them, not just their exposed body parts, but their shame, he covers it by the first recorded animal sacrifice, which is a sign of the ultimate sacrifice of his son on the cross.

So why did that keep me up at night? Because I am so grateful to see the story differently than when I grew up. I always pictured God thinking oh you lousy adam and eve, now I have to cover you up b/c you blew it. But no, God covers our sin, it's so much bigger than I know it to be.

I need to get to church to set up the food table (grrrrr Michelle...you are killing me with this food!! ;-) but I just need to get this out...what a difference to serve a God who covers your sin, than a God who covered your nakedness. There has always been shame in being naked, in our bodies, and the covering up comes from Genesis I am sure. But Jesus bore my shame with his naked body in my place. That shame is not for me, God's got me covered.

I'm having a hard time putting it into words, I'll tell you this, I got 2 phone calls after I got home last night from women saying WOW with me. New concepts take time to sink in, but praise God today for seeing him and his character in a new light. What a JOY to serve a God who's got you covered, as opposed to serving out of guilt or trying to somehow redeem yourself....WOW

More later.