Our Faithful GodНамуна

Restored Relationship

There it is. The crafty hiss of the serpent, the same today as it was then. “Did God really say…?” (Genesis 3:1).

Eve believed the lie, the same one that too often trips me up: God withholds good from me. God does not give me what I need. I have been Eve, not trusting that He could truly love me if He won’t give me exactly what I want.

The people God fashioned for Himself rebel against Him and run to hide. And yet He comes looking. “Why are you hiding?” But He already knows. “You ate from the tree, didn’t you?”

We do the same. We claim for ourselves things that we believe God has denied us, and then, realizing our wrong, we hide in shame.

Can you hear Him, speaking it straight to your heart? “Don’t hide, love. I already know.” In His great loving-kindness, God al­ready has a plan to save and redeem even those who rebel against Him. In the garden, those who He promised would surely die go on to live another day, and in His mercy, He clothes their nakedness and still pro­vides the breath in their lungs and the sun on their faces and the warm ground beneath their feet that grows food for their suste­nance. He also gives a promise, that this brokenness will not be forever.

When I read about the Fall in Genesis 3, it feels easy to despair. I be­rate myself. I hate my sin nature. But I also realize that if we do not know we are naked, we do not know we need to be clothed. And when I do not realize the depth of my own sin and separation from God, I cannot recognize my need of a savior who will bring me into restored relationship.

Even in the garden, God in His mercy has a perfect plan to bring His people back to Himself, to restore them to their pre-Fall sinlessness. Even now, His plan is nothing less than to bring us into His presence.

Are you beating yourself up over a past sin or mistake? You can rest in knowing that once you repent from your sin, you are forgiven by our loving Father through the death and resurrection of His Son! Spend some time reflecting on how your sins and imper­fections bring you to the feet of Jesus, recognizing your need for Him.