And the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. — Genesis 3:8

Confused creation — garden turned to thorn,
Man's strife and tiresome toil, and death, the norm!
God, the good Friend, who walked with them before,
Is hidden from blind eyes that see no more.

In mankind's woe they fail to see God's grief
And He, in His great loss, finds no relief.
They hide themselves from Him — go on alone
In rebel's world, at peril and unknown.

How does a Father grieve when He is God,
And children that He loves return to sod
On fallen earth that swallows up their skill,
Ruled by an enemy that works their ill?

What would a Father do to gain them back —
Give everything He has, and suffer lack
When He has made a world, but has no heir
To carry out the dreams He meant to share?

How could He go against His uttered word
That granted man dominion, registered
For angels and the universe to see,
Immutable for all eternity?

How would He place a man upon the earth,
A man of sinless blood and noble birth?
His Son! His only Son! His precious life
Given for mankind's sin, in sacrifice?

We fail to see the anguish and the pain —
A Father's heart, when His own Son was slain
To gain the world He'd planned that Adam lost.
How can we know what our redemption cost?