Turning to God for help:
On March 9th of 1994, a German tourist checked into a hotel near Miami International Airport. That night in his room he noticed a foul odor. But, travelers must put up with all sorts of discomforts, he thought, so he slept in the bed that night without a complaint to the front desk. The next morning when he awoke, the odor was only worse. So, as he checked out of the hotel, he reported the trouble to the front desk.
On Friday, March 11, a maid cleaning the room discovered the source of the odor. Under the bed, she found a corpse.
Life is filled with troubles, and often it seems the best thing to do is just to ignore them. But, if we realized how serious and close to home some of our troubles really are, we would take action. (from Craig Brian Larson and Leadership Journal-750 Engaging Illustrations).
Read Gen 3:1-8
V1. The snake was more cunning than any of the other wild animals that the Lord God had made. One day it came to the woman and asked, “Did God tell you not to eat fruit from any tree in the garden?”
V2. The woman answered, “God said we could eat fruit from any tree in the garden, V3 except the one in the middle. He told us not to eat fruit from that tree or even to touch it. If we do, we will die.
V4. “No, you won’t!” The snake replied. V5 “God understands what will happen on the day you eat fruit from that tree. You will see what you have done, and you will know the difference between right and wrong, just as God does.”
V6. The woman stared at the fruit. It looked beautiful and tasty. She wanted the wisdom that it would give her, and she ate some of the fruit. Her husband was there with her, so she gave some to him, and he ate it too.
V7. Suddenly they saw what they had done, and they realized they were naked. Then they sewed fig leaves together to make something to cover themselves.
V8. Late in the afternoon a breeze began to blow, and the man and woman heard the Lord God walking in the garden. They were frightened and hid behind some trees.
In Genesis chapter 3 we see how the devil lured Eve to eat fruit from the forbidden tree of life. By enticing her to eat the fruit, Eve would then know the difference between right and wrong, just as God does.
Before taking a bite of the fruit, we see that Eve analyzed the fruit first (see v6). To her it looked beautiful and tasty. The possibility of her gaining wisdom was too much to resist.
This is just like many life situations today. Even though we know deep in our hearts what is good and what is bad, we are often tricked by the devil to engage in bad situations. At first, they seem very appetizing. But, they often lead us to serious troubles.
Trouble does not just walk into our lives. Either we create it, invite it, or associate with it. In this case, Eve invited it. It all began with verse 4, the first lie recorded in Scripture.
You see, the devil just wants to give us a taste. That way, we get hooked, just like Eve did with her first bite. Eve believed the fruit to be so good that she offered it to Adam. She didn’t want him to miss the possibility of knowing the difference between good and bad, to be like God.
Isn’t that how some troubles begin in our lives? Often, it takes someone we know to lure us into trouble. The devil tempted Eve, and Eve tempted Adam.
So, Eve’s assessment of the fruit led her to eat it and to offer it to her husband. Once they began to eat, they both realized that they were naked. They tried to cover their “trouble” by sewing fig leaves together, trying to make something with which to conceal themselves.
We read that later that afternoon there was a breeze. Adam and Eve heard the Lord coming, so they hid behind some trees.
Just like Adam and Eve, we often come up with our own ways to cover our troubles. Even though we know that our temporary solution might not be enough to solve the troubles, we try. We hope that what we try works and that our troubles can be ignored for as long as possible. We think that they might even, somehow, go away on their own.
That is exactly what Adam and Eve tried to do. They figured that if they covered their bodies with fig leaves and hid from God, that what they had done would, somehow, go unnoticed by God. As you know, of course, that wasn’t the case. In the following verses, we see that God holds them accountable for their disobedience.
Life really does have its troubles. Some we bring upon ourselves. Sometimes, we are lured by someone else. Sometimes we are victims of others’ troubles. How we react to and handle our troubles often make us into whom we are.
Our goal should be to seek solutions that never put our character into question, solutions that uphold God’s commandments to the highest level possible. I know that this is sometimes hard to do. But, with God’s help, it is not impossible.
When we are in trouble, we want the easiest solution possible to end those troubles. We see that simple attempt in our Scripture, when Adam and Eve sewed leaves to cover themselves. But, as you certainly know, their effort was not good enough.
What they had done needed more than human ingenuity. It needed God’s hand. That’s why the Lord covered them with animal skins. This was the solution to their sin until the fulfillment of the birth and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
So, how do we handle our troubles through a biblical perspective?
1. Accept the trouble
Once we are in trouble, we must do our best to accept the responsibility that comes with that trouble. Not only will responsibility cause our maturity to grow, but our self-discipline and character will become stronger.
Once trouble is at our front door, no matter how it may have developed, we must handle it. If we do not recognize and accept the trouble, we will have severe difficulties in solving our problem.
Let’s look again at the example of Adam and Eve. When they realized that they had broken God’s commandment, they didn’t accept that they had a problem on their hands. They did the wrong thing. They tried to cover it up.
That’s just what we do, too. We are no different from Adam and Eve. I remember when I was a boy. I was playing in the living room and broke one of mom’s figurines on the bookshelf. Instead of addressing the issue, I stuck the figurine behind the encyclopedia books, so it wouldn’t be seen by my mother. I pretended that nothing happened, leaving the scene and going outside to play. Quickly, my problem was forgotten.
Well, it didn’t take long for mom to notice that her yellow dog figurine was missing. And, it didn’t take long for her to notice that some of the encyclopedias were out of alignment with the others. You can probably guess the rest of the story. I won’t forget.
2. Don’t play the blame game
Let’s continue with Genesis 3. God was walking through the garden. He called on Adam and asked what he had done. Immediately, Adam and Eve began to blame each other, along with the serpent, for the trouble in which they now found themselves.
We’re like Adam and Eve. We do the same thing. Usually, when we are in a mess, we try to find ways to put the blame on others. We do this rather than accepting responsibility for our own actions.
Once has to wonder what if Adam, when confronted, had acted differently. What if he had confessed, instead of blaming his problem on God and then Eve? What if he had said to God, “I messed up. I ate from the tree of knowledge”? Would life have been any different? Would God have forgiven Adam at that time?
Many times we try to find a cause to let ourselves off the hook. Finding someone to blame (and then blaming them) may give us a substitute sensation for having solved a problem, even when we haven't at all really understood cause and effect.
It takes a big person, outwardly and inwardly, to accept that he has messed up. This doesn’t mean that we should never blame other people. Sometimes, others are at fault. They do need to know it and to take responsibility. But, being able to accept responsibility, when it’s the right thing to do, means that we actually become less helpless and less passive.
How do you react when things go wrong? Do you feel a sense of shock?
