Can you imagine what innocence was like?

     Within the framework of innocence is an etiology (study of first things) of the subject regarding our belief versus reality.  I remember my first friend who betrayed me.  I remember the loss of my loved one.  I remember the amazement of the birth of each of my children.  I remember the changes that I was not ready for nor could have imagined. I imagined that life would be good and fair.  I imagined that if I was of a certain caliber that others would be also.  Instead of innocence I found loss a constant companion.  There were good losses and bad losses associated with life and innocence.  God expressed amazement when he told Jeremiah that the people had done that which he had never imagined they would do.  Joseph's father was taken to the depths of loss at the presumed loss of his son.  Elizabeth was amazed and overjoyed only after she laughed at the prophecy that she would bear a child at old age.  The disciples were shaken time after time as they witnessed the Son of God do that which they knew to be impossible.  John was shaken as he wrote Revelation having seen from the vision of God the end of the world, time, and patience of God.  Yet, Eve didn't seem to react that way.  Sometimes humanity really blows my mind.
     When I've suffered loss it's always been associated at how much trust and love I've exerted toward that person or thing.  What's compounding the situation is that I believed in my childhood and early adulthood that everyone lived as I did.  Life would later reveal that my "innocence" was not reality based and that the world had lied to me.  You may have been lied to as well.  The amount of trust and respect that we put on the world we live in will come around to bite you in the butt just as it has for others since the beginning of time  That's why God wants us to put ALL of our trust and respect in his hands and separate ourselves from the world even though we need to live in the world.  Not an impossible task if you really want to find the peace of God that passes all understanding.  Jesus told us that he trusted no man.  No one!  He knew our hearts, hidden sin, and selfish ambitions.  He knew that Judas would betray him.  Judas thought he could force Jesus to forcefully overtake the world and be that king he had envisioned God would be.  His betrayal was known and planned for by Jesus before the beginning of time.  How does that work?
     In Psalm 139 God tells us that he knows every moment and every aspect of our lives from before the beginning of time.  In fact he knows our name from before it was assigned to us.  Then in Revelation God tells us that if we overcome that we will be clothed in white and be given a new name when we get to heaven.  The world has given me the name Steven James Hawley.  God has a name that will be revealed to me when I get to heaven.  That name was before the beginning of time and will be for eternity.  Don't look for Steven in heaven.  I don't know what my name will be. Innocence is anticipating that which we know but don't know.  I know that Jesus is coming again.  I know that when I die here on earth I take my first breath in heaven (with a new name).  I know that I will have eternity with the God who designed my every breath and every thought.  Innocence is being overwhelmed when God breaks through and brings about his design for our lives.  Only those who have lost much are capable of loving much.  He knows this because his Son died for us.  The innocence of God was killed so that by God's plan we can have his innocence for ourselves.  All we need to do is choose.  It's always your choice.