Then one day, the only rule to follow, never eat this one fruit, was broken. Suddenly you are engulfed with fear and shame, feelings that were foreign to you just a moment ago. Your head swims with what has just happened. Feeling lost and alone you wonder what to do. Then the idea comes to hide. Maybe God won’t notice. You tie some leaves together to cover yourself and disappear behind the hedge. Moments ago this same hedge was a place to rest, now becomes a hiding place. This hedge once offered comfort now offers only pricks and stings. (Genesis chap. 2 & 3). Are you still hiding behind that hedge? Not wanting to face your troubles. Just wishing you could find peace again. Wanting people and difficulties to go away so you can finally rest? Feeling the veil of depression or anger fill you. Not wanting to feel pain or the look of disappointment again. Do you keep all your emotional doors shut and locked so you will never be wounded again? Maybe you are one which hides behind the hedges of drugs or alcohol to avoid feeling pains of the past, or fear of the future. Do you spend more of your life in conflict than you do in peace and rest?

Many people spend a life time wasted behind the hedges of life, never fulfilling the destiny with in their life. They are busy making their own clothing out of fig leaves so no-one will know that they have fallen and eaten from the fruit of failure. When failure enters a person’s life it will either make you a person of character or it will make you a person of regrets and fears. We all have failures. "We've all done our own thing, gone our own way” (Is.53:6 The Message). Every person on this earth has felt moments of disappointment and the sting of rejection. Days filled with loneliness and anxiety. For some it feels there is not a big enough hedge to hide behind. Yet your heart longs for acceptance and an honest pat on the back that says, "well done”.

That day in the garden when you needed to hide was the very day God came to breathe new life back to you. To give you a way out of the hedge so you wouldn’t have to hide anymore. If you finish reading the story in Genesis, you would find He made new clothes to cover you. He provided a way to walk once again with Him in the quietness of His presence and that is through His Son.

The rest of Isaiah 53:6 states, "And God has piled all our sins, everything we've done wrong, on him”(The Message). No matter what shame you are hiding from, whether from sexual abuse, addiction, or a lie, He has a way out. If you are willing to trust Him, He will lift you out of your rut and give you new breath. He has a new pair of clothes for you if you will just seek help. Often times He provides the way out through other people. Giving His wisdom and teaching to others who have already come from behind the hedge, entering His garden.

Talk to someone pastor, counselor, teacher, or friend. Keep talking until someone hears. Go to a Christian book store buy a book, buy a tape, reach out, He is there to grab your hand. Imagine your life coming from around the hedge, deciding not to hide from your place within God’s garden of hope. Imagine the soft breeze gently caressing your face, touching your heart and giving you faith. Feel the velvety grass under your feet, tickling your toes. You begin to laugh as joy embraces you. Realizing you are accepted even with your faults. Imagine yourself reaching out for His hand, and He reaches for yours…