Returning to the Garden

Have you ever noticed how complicated wellness has become?

Every week there's a new expert telling us what we should or shouldn't be doing.

It's no wonder so many women feel overwhelmed.

Sometimes I wonder if we've wandered so far from God's original design that we've forgotten where true wellness began.

It began in a garden.

Before there were diets.

There was nourishment.

Before there were fitness programs.

There was joyful movement.

Before there were sleep experts.

There was evening and morning.

Before there was chronic busyness.

There was rest.

Before there was fear.

There was perfect fellowship with God.

When I read the opening chapters of Genesis, I don't just see the beginning of creation.

I see God's original design for flourishing.

He created light before He created people.

He filled the earth with nourishing plants.

He gave Adam and Eve meaningful work.

He walked with them.

Everything they needed to flourish was found in His presence and within the rhythms He established.

Although we no longer live in the Garden of Eden, I believe God's design still speaks to us today.

Our bodies can still thrive with light.

They still benefit from nourishing foods.

They still need movement, rest, fresh air, and time in God's presence.

These are reminders of the wisdom of our Creator.

Perhaps Biblical wellness isn't about discovering something new.

Perhaps it's about returning to what God created.

Returning to God's rhythms.

Returning to His wisdom.

Returning to His presence.

The world offers us endless strategies for better health.

God offers us Himself.

And I've discovered that when we seek Him first, everything else begins to fall into its proper place.

Maybe that's the invitation for all of us.

To return to the Garden because the closer we return to His design, the more we discover the peace, purpose, and rhythms our hearts have been longing for all along.