Themes: Resting, Adam and Eve’s Sin, God’s Authority
Genesis 2
Genesis 2:2—"And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.” This verse speaks to me about resting in a form of stillness. It leads me to reflecting on my journey of motherhood and how God is using motherhood to teach me to rest by being still. God rested, not because he needed to, but to honor the good work He had done and to be a model for us. God did not need to rest, but he knew I did. When my youngest 2 daughters were born, I tried to find someone to stay with the girls and looked at other options so I could still work full time. Nothing worked out and I realized God was calling me to be still. I chose to let go of a full-time job, much of my independence, and my distractions. Staying home and resting by learning how to be still has been difficult for me. It is a lot of work and pretty much constant chaos. I was hard on myself and expected that it would come easier than it did for me. While I had more time on my hands that I didn’t know what to do with, it brought up feelings of loneliness and loss. That lead me to reading my bible and really spending time with God. That was also hard. I was challenged to learn how to rest in God’s truth and God’s peace instead of being busy, distracted, or angry. That meant that being in the presence of God and truth; I had to face my failures, face my weaknesses, face myself and my issues. I was and am learning how to be responsible to take care of myself so that I can take care of others as well. God wants to refine me by revealing the truth. This resting also is teaching me how to rest in the joy that comes from God. Motherhood is full of pain, sacrifice, and loneliness for me, but it is also filled with so much joy, happiness, and revelation. Having joy is something I had to learn how to feel and experience. When the chaos and demands just keep coming…REST. When the house chores and overwhelm sets in…REST. When the noise is relentless…REST. Rest and breathe in the Father's love so that I can see the blessings and feel his joy. I tell myself that over and over. The Holy Spirit helps me speak over my body, speak over my feelings, and speak over my mind to keep going. God tells me that I do not have to be enough because Jesus is! Rest and stillness for me is to surrender and be content in the love and the job God has for me at this stage of my life. There is pure joy and fulfillment of God’s love through my children, my family, and the connection, love, and peace they bring. As a mother, I also get to experience joys that are specific to being a mother. This is truly heaven on earth.
In Genesis 2, the Bible talks about how God created Adam first, gave Adam clear rules and boundaries, and gave him a job. Adam had great responsibility and honor, and he was motivated to do work because of the relationship he had with God. Adam being a simple creature, maintained these boundaries. Because of the way in which God made Adam and the role he gave to Adam, he had honor and respect. I interpret this as one of man’s deepest needs and desires that God naturally put in him: to have honor and respect. Adam also did his work and had the relationship with God first, and then he had to wait for Eve. As Adam waited for Eve, he was vulnerable and exposed in order for God to take Adam’s rib and create Eve. God didn’t have to take Adam’s rib to create Eve, but he did on purpose to reveal the sacrifice. With the responsibilities of the tasks God placed before Adam, he also has the responsibility of the fall. Jesus came back to do what Adam could not in order to atone for sin. When sin entered as Adam did not lead with his relationship with God first, he was moved and influenced by Eve. Adam trusted Eve, but also allowed her to take his role and place over God. After Adam sinned, I wonder if his perspective may have changed from, “Thank you, God, for creating me a woman,” to, “God, why did you take my rib to create this woman who led me to sin?” Sin changes our perspective and experience.
Genesis 3:6—“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.” Eve sinned as she chose to trust in her own sense, feelings, and experience over what God said and the rules and boundaries God had set forth. She also sinned as she multiplied her disbelief in God as she shared the apple with Adam. Her trusting in herself over God led her to be open to the devil’s lies. After Eve sinned, she started to see things differently as well. Shame takes over, and instead of being content and satisfied with God’s blessings, she now feels the need to hide and questions God’s love for her. When I reflect on my own sin as a woman, it takes me back to the beginning of my relationship and how I expected and desired to be my husband’s everything. Growing up with co-dependent parents led me to believe that you are supposed to fix each other and could not have your own independence. This manifested as a deep insecurity that I needed someone to fix and fill me. Because of my insecurities, I expected my husband to be that savior for me instead of Jesus. I was jealous of the relationship my husband had with God. My sin drove me to pursue that affection, and I caused damage in the process. I became a fat calf eating up everything that was good to try to fill me. I ate up much of my husband's light because I refused to face my own demons and go to the source: God. Because his light was not meant for me to take, it just could not quench the sin in me. Saying these things is heavy and it hurts. I could not see and accept that I was worthy of love, but I needed God’s love to fill me. Over the past several years as my life was falling apart, God has revealed so many truths to me about how I was causing so much damage. God is teaching me the beauty and power of my role as a woman, a wife, a mother, a friend, and a daughter of the most-high God. As a woman, I can use my gifts to make the good even better. I can have graceful influence to multiply the light, nurture the good, and to keep the sweetness of life flowing even amidst the pain.
Adam and Eve both sinned. After they sinned, there was shame that isolates and separates us from the presence of God. Just like Adam and Eve, we all sin and try to cover up the shame. In Genesis 3:11-13, God asks Adam and Eve what they are doing. Adam blames Eve and Eve blames the devil. This is a typical dynamic in relationships. We blame to avoid shame. Not only in the work I do with couples in therapy do I experience this time and time again, but in my personal life. My mind can be such a battlefield, and rather than taking responsibility and ownership for this battle, just like Eve did, I, too, blame. I often feel powerless and weak against some of the fears, bad images, bad experiences, and negative beliefs I may have. I forget that God has given me authority over sin if I choose to use it. This leads into Genesis Chapter 3:15 as it says, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” This reveals the beginning of the battle of power between the woman and the devil. There will be intense hostility, animosity, tension, a deep opposition, bitterness that will continue to last. I experience this enmity between the devil and me often in my personal life. When I was a young adult, I remember that trying to get closer with God was hard and scary. Every time I tried, I was attacked spiritually. I didn’t realize it at the time, but looking back, I see the battle. When I would pray, or read my Bible, or open up about my desires for God in my life, that night I would have nightmares of the devil hanging over me and I would be paralyzed. I would have nightmares of my worst fears that would stop me from wanting to put energy into having a relationship with God. I would have thoughts about my insecurities and worst fears coming true. The devil does not want me to get closer to God, and every time I try, he comes harder at me. As I grow in my walk with Christ, I am able to see more and more what attacks are coming from the devil. I also see how important it is for me to recognize this war between the devil and fight it spiritually rather than in the flesh. When I try to fight this battle in the flesh, I displace the war. This means that this inner battle does not stay on the field attacking the devil. This means that if I am unaware of the spiritual war going on, I may take the battlefield into my relationships, into my home, and it ends up stuck in my heart. I end up fighting a war against those I love, instead of fighting against the evil one himself.
Genesis 6 and 7 leads me to reflect on God’s ultimate authority. The story of the flood can be so confusing and filled with grief, confusion, and disappointment. How can a good God allow so many people to die? This is an emotional reflection that is unbalanced to the truth. The truth is that God created us, and he can change anything He wants to. Because of his Holiness, he could have killed Adam and Eve right at the beginning if He wanted to. But He didn’t. We see that without God, our sin runs wild. Without our creator, we are lost and empty trying to fill ourselves with worldly things and fleshly desires. When God could have let us die in the beginning, he gave us breath. The breath we all have now is a miracle.
These verses can all be quite heavy as this is the story of the beginning of sin. It’s like watching a scary movie where you see someone coming up from behind and scream “LOOK BEHIND YOU!” but they cannot hear you. When I feel the weight of sin that starts to get too heavy, listening to music and worshiping God reminds me that the battle is already won. The battle is already won. Let me say it again, the battle is already won! I listen to “Defender” by Francesca Battistelli and Stefani Gretzinger, and “Need” by Ryan Ellis to continue my praise and worship to God. Though sin entered our existence, God provided a way. All we have to do is speak our sin, ask for forgiveness, and accept God’s grace. We can choose to praise and worship to allow God to love us so we can live in His love and peace. We can live in His peace as we realize God is our defender and His way is the best way. When I think back on the time in my life where I did not really know who God was and I was lost, I look back and think about how I could never go back to that. At that time, it was the opposite, where I could not imagine myself even talking to God every single day, let alone worshiping Him every day. Giving Him all of me and all of my life. Now, because so much has changed, I could never and will never go back! I praise God that he provided a way and I do not have to go back.
Ending my reflection, I pray: Father God, you are the one true healer and authority over all. I thank you and praise you for your loving kindness in revealing truth so that I can live in your love and peace. You strengthen me day by day. I pray you continue to expose the sin in me so that I can be more like you. Give me eyes to see and ears to hear, Lord. I feel scared at times of change, but I trust you. Thank you for being there for me always and never leaving me.
Jessica Cooper
