Am I the only one who wonders about the dialogue that takes place between Eve and the serpent in the Garden of Eden as he stands before her, offering her a bite of fruit?
I wonder why she gives him the time of day. Why hadn’t she seen the attack a mile away? The enemy is so subtle that maybe the goal all along was to instill fear in people’s minds and hearts.
As soon as Adam and Eve sinned, they were aware of the very clear divide between humankind and God. Their thoughts were probably racing—Oh, man, this was supposed to lead us to more freedom and get us closer to God. What do we do now? We are naked and afraid.
Adam and Eve were created to be the father and mother of a people who would see, feel, embrace and be in constant community with God the Father. In one instance, the enemy came as a sneaky snake to steal, kill and infiltrate the destruction of their design through accepting bad fruit.
This story got me thinking about the areas in my life where the enemy is attempting to steal my design and confuse me with shame and fear and indifference. So I ask: “In what ways have I been nibbling on the fruit the enemy wants me to eat?”
In my regular job I have been blessed with what seems to be unnatural favor: I get along with my management team and other co-workers easily; I seem to have favor and blessing in anything I put my hand to. Not to say that I do not work to be excellent in these things, but it would be very comfortable for me to just rest and rely in the constancy of comfortable.
Things have a bit of a different spin when it comes to ministry—my calling and passion. I find that I run into more roadblocks here mentally than anywhere else. The Lord blesses and adds increase to the work of my hands, but maybe He has been calling me to a life of more faith; in Him in the basic things of trusting him to fulfill the passions and calling He has placed within me.
He’s creating within me a beautiful reliance in him by which I have to ask Him constantly about the next steps I should take. I would love to proclaim that I never deal with doubt and apathy, but that would be a bold-faced lie. There will be doubt and fear present until the day I die, but it is my choice to confront them face-to-face.
We have to learn to do things afraid.
There is something so beautiful and fulfilling when we realize we don’t have to agree with lies associated with shame, fear, and insignificance. These may come up once in a while, but we don’t have to agree with them.
God created us with fierce and beautiful callings to share with those we surround. I don’t want to nibble on bad fruit from a terrible source, but feast on the great bounty created for me by a loving King. No more hiding. It’s time to step out from under the tree so we can be seen.
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