Turning To God For Help

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.