I Was Without

I made this card in response to the question in Lament #4, "How has God been faithful to you in the past?" Actually, this card is a precursor to the question, since it's a look at my life before I relied God's faithfulness.

Before I realized that God existed and was opening His arms out to me I was, to put it simply, without. Without hope, without a future, without true life, without understanding, without the desire to do right, without the ability to do right, without peace, without love, without conscience, without knowledge of myself, without knowledge of God, without perspective, without mercy, without direction, without purpose, without ____________ ... (Fill in the blank- if it is good, I was without it!)

According to God, I was DEAD. As barren and lifeless as the surface of the moon. I was like a newborn left by herself in an airless, cold, empty, weightless environment. Nothing to wrap up in, nothing to hang on to, no stability, no protection and no ability to fend for myself. And not a soul was there to provide any of that for me. The moment I came out of the womb, I was plunked on a remote planet and left alone. Not because I had committed a sin, but because of my nature. My nature is sin, from the very first second of my life.

God says that because His total perfection cannot tolerate our natural human imperfection each of us are destined to be alone on our own barren planet. And so all of mankind is without. Sqwalling newborn babies, struggling to find that thing we need that will bring us comfort, warmth, oxygen, safety, life. Apart from God, we are all WITHOUT. (-by Erin)