S94P4 – Dark seasons of the soul: suspicion

Gen. 3:4-6

“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”  When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

She knew that her parents had a history of addiction.  That time of their lives came before she did, and she was never exposed to that difficult period, but their story was no secret.  Her parents would speak to groups on the subject of substance abuse, and they were very vocal about their disapproval of her even tasting a drink.  Their perspective always had been that it was better not to open the door even the slightest, but what they intended as guidance was viewed by her as overprotection.  She wondered what they were keeping from her and could not wait to have that first drink when the opportunity presented itself.  She had to see for herself what it was like, which did nothing but open a dark chapter in her own journey.

We can think of many different words to describe what caused Adam and Eve to eat from that tree.  It certainly was an act of disobedience to the Father.  They also showed a lack of belief in what He had spoken to them.  I see the wheels grinding in Eve’s head as she considers the Father’s warning and weighs it against what appear to be some pretty good characteristics of that tree and its fruit.  She is tempted by suspicion at the thought of God keeping knowledge from her.  His warning was meant for her good, but she thought that following it would leave her left out.  These are the actions of someone who believes she is not being protected but is being neglected and left with an empty bag.  

The actions of both Adam and Eve show us that they thought God had some ulterior motive behind his warning.  They came to the conclusion that He was simply withholding something good from them under the guise of that warning.  Disobedience, lack of faith and lack of trust gave rise to this suspicion.  The same thing can lead us to sin when God warns us to keep our hands off but we simply do not want to be left out.  If God says it is bad, we should not try to find how it is actually good and justify our transgressions.  We certainly know today that we would have been better off without the knowledge of good and evil.  Father, increase our trust in You to take your warnings as messages of protection and love with no ulterior motives and to obey them.