When Least Expected™

Eve: Okay, Now What?

May 15th, 2007 at 11:51pm Manchild

As promised, we’re continuing this month’s series, Women Of The Bible, with yet another look at the life of Eve. If you haven’t read Genesis Chapters 2 and 3, please do so in order to better understand the harsh reality of the truth and the ugliness of the dilemma Eve faced after the fall.

Since we’re dedicating the entire month of May to women and issues relevant to women, we’ll discuss Adam’s role in the fall of humanity next month with the message, “Adam, Where Are You?” For now, we’ll stay focused on the life of the woman whose name means, “Life-giving.” Imagine hearing God saying to you what Eve heard after the fall that gave birth to death, to pain, to shame, to fear, to the emotional division that still exists between man and woman.

Yes, it’s true. We’ve all blown it. We’ve all made mistakes. Big ones. Small ones. Inadvertent ones. Intentional ones. We’ve all done something we shouldn’t have at some point in our lives. We’ve all been in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong people. I know I have. Have you?

Take some time right now to search the seat of your soul, to dig deeper into the cluttered place where all our secrets still hide and reside. Uncomfortable? Most definitely! But necessary. Take a moment to take a closer look inside the heart of your soul. What did you find? What did you do? What did you say?

On the flipside of this script, what didn’t you find? What didn’t you do when you had a chance to take a stand? What didn’t you say when you had an opportunity to clear the name of an actually innocent person who was falsely accused of a crime you know they didn’t commit? Justifying your unethical actions by telling yourself that “I was just doing my job” doesn’t make the pain go away.

Do you feel like crying right now? Go ahead, cry if you must to cleanse your face and rid your soul of the toxic residue that’s poisoning your body. During my showers in the mornings, I cry often. Do you? The water from the shower symbolizes the tears I shed. The shower cleanses my body as it washes away the dirt I picked up from the previous day.

The tears cleanse the heart of my soul as they wash aways the residue of all the unwise decisions, the mistakes, the dirt I’ve done. Crying is better than dying a slow death from the anger, bitterness, and resentment you feel towards yourself for failing to face you deepest fears. Weeping may endure for a night, a few nights, a season, but sooner or later, joy always comes in the morning.

As some of you may know, the morning is symbolic, a metaphor for the glorious day that the long-awaited sunrise will appear and allow your eyes to meet the “greatness of God’s faithfulness.” Have you been waiting a long time for the light of God’s love to pierce the spiritual darkness of the hopelessness Despair creates?

Maybe you said something you shouldn’t have and harmed somebody you love with the words from your own mouth. Maybe you betrayed somebody’s trust and lost their respect, their friendship, their financial support. Maybe you let somebody down who depended on you to keep a promise, to fulfill a commitment, to prepare an important sales presentation, to keep your end of the bargain. But you blew it big time.

Saying, “I’m sorry,” isn’t enough this time. The damage is done. You’ve blown it one time too many. You finally found the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. If only you had the supernatural power to turn back the hands of time. Alas, you don’t and now you must sleep in the mess you’ve made. If you’ve been there, done that, you can imagine how Eve felt once this woman finally realized that her mistake would affect generations of women who had done no wrong.

Imagine how it must have felt to know that both she and Adam could no longer stand in God’s celestial presence without feeling “naked and ashamed.” Both Adam and Eve had sinned against God. The word sin means to miss the mark. Despite your noble efforts, your due diligence, your good intentions, how many times have you missed the mark?

“Okay, now what?” you ask yourself. “Where do we go from here?” you wonder as you ponder the eternal consequences of your disobedience, your failure to do the right thing, your willful act of rebellion. Matters not the reason why. Where do you start? What steps must you take in order for you to feel good about the person you face in the mirror? I don’t know. But God knows. That’s where I’d start.

During your dark night of the soul when all seems lost, remember that God is still standing closer than a brother. God will not leave you nor forsake you. God still loves you despite what you’ve done or didn’t do. Don’t give up. Don’t give in to the pain you feel. Don’t quit. Today is the beginning of the rest of your life. The present, not the past, is a great place to start doing something new.

For some of you, today’s challenging message will be liberating. Some of you will find the song you stuffed deep down inside the seat of your souls that you’re afraid to sing because you committed a sin you’re ashamed to admit to yourself, to God. Haven’t you noticed that our deepest fears have an uncanny way of silencing us for too long and keeping us from singing our song for all the wrong reasons? What are some of the reasons that you’re still afraid to sing your song?

It’s true. Each one of us is capable of doing, or saying, what we all know is wrong. “Okay, now what Mr. know-it-all?” Some of you will hate me for loving you simply because you still don’t love you. You still hate yourself. You hate anybody that looks like you and reminds you of you. Some of you will become defensive, misunderstand my intentions, and choose to personally attack me for challenging you to face your fears and embrace Change. But that’s to be expected.

“Better the wounds of a friend than kisses from an enemy.”

Some of you may decide to thank the person who keeps loving you enough to tell you the truth about yourself. I find it interesting that Jesus never identified, with specificity, the truth that makes people free as evidenced by the Scriptures. So, what is the truth that will make you free? Does this truth differ from person to person? Think about it.

Knowing the truth that, in God’s eyes, we are all created equal and will be treated equally may liberate you. For others, it may be just knowing the truth that God loves each of us absent any conditions. Knowing that we’re all imperfect people living together in an imperfect world may make you free enough to finally forgive you, to highly esteem you so you can learn to love you again.

Just know that God isn’t surprised, nor is He disappointed by anything we may say or do. Despite what occurred in the Garden of Eden, God has a plan and a purpose for each one of His children. Knowing that our most merciful and gracious Father was willing to sacrifice the life of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, in order to pay for the sins of the world did it for me.

The truth that makes people free is knowing that God’s love inspired Jesus Christ to pay a debt He didn’t owe because we all owed a debt we couldn’t pay. After the fall, Eve also experienced the grace of God. Hence, our next message will deal with Eve and God’s amazing grace. I hope and pray that you will feel better about you today now that you know that God still loves you.

Copyright 2007 by Roderick O. Solomon. All Rights Reserved.

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Entry Filed under: All About Women, Christianity, Inspiration, Leadership, Male-Female Relationships, Self-Esteem, Women In Scripture