I Don’t Mind If I Do – Eve’s Story
Okay, so I know I said we’d do this in no particular order, but since Eve is first, we will start with her.
Eve’s Story
We are all created by God for God, but Eve is first woman created and the only woman not created by God in her mother’s tummy. Those go without saying. But Eve had several other firsts. Eve was the first woman…
- To sin
- To lie to God
- To have a child
- To be in a man/woman relationship
- To experience grief
Let’s take these one at a time and see what we can learn from the woman God created with his own two hands.
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.
Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.
God created and blessed Eve. He provided for her every need; placing only one stipulation on her. Just one. But Eve couldn’t hold up under the pressure from Satan to live up to God’s expectations and guidelines for her.
I’d like to think we have the short version of how things went down between Eve and Satan, but unfortunately, it doesn’t look that way. I mean, seriously, did Satan only have to tempt Eve once before she caved?
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say,
‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.”‘
“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.”
This event was the first sin which was quickly followed by the first lie—the lie Eve and Adam told God when he asked them why they were hiding from him.
After God pronounces the punishment for their lie, we don’t read anything specifically about Eve. Instead, we only hear about Eve’s family, but I don’t think I have to tell you that what happened to Eve’s family directly affected Eve’s life. Take the incident with Cain and Abel…
Eve’s grief over the loss of one son was coupled with the grief over knowing he died at the hands of another son had to be heart-wrenching. As a mom, you know she had to be asking herself what went wrong.
Had she done something (or not done something) that caused Cain to have so much animosity toward his brother? Was her son’s death part of her punishment for past transgressions? And not only was Abel gone, but Cain was gone, too —banished from home in punishment for his crime. Her grief, to be sure, was overwhelming and nearly unbearable.
God did not leave Eve childless, however. In fact, the Bible tells us in Genesis chapter five that God blessed Adam and Eve with several more sons and daughters. Now while this undoubtedly brought happiness and joy back into their home, you can be sure that Eve never saw these children as replacements for the two sons she lost because a mother’s love never dies— even if her child does.
Joy And Grief. Happiness And Sadness Fear and confidence. Eve all of these emotions and more. Like any other woman in history, Eve struggled in her relationship with her husband, her children, and with God. She struggled with guilt, and self-esteem, and experienced times of doubt as well as times of confidence in her abilities as a wife and a mother.
Eve really isn’t all that different from every other woman, is she…including you?
What We Can Learn From Eve
We don’t have to worry about talking snakes and wrapping leaves around us so God doesn’t see our… But that doesn’t mean Eve’s life doesn’t hold a few life lessons for women everywhere.
Lesson One:
The fact that Eve was so close to God, yet at times so far from him (spiritually speaking), teaches us that God is patient with the fact that we aren’t always quick to pick up on things. It also speaks to the fact that he desires a relationship with you and that he sees you as a beautiful aspect of his creation.
Lesson Two:
You cannot hide from God. He knows everything—including your thoughts and emotions. So…don’t try to hide from God. Lay it all out there for him to hear. He’s big enough to handle it AND to see you through it all.
Lesson Three:
There are no winners in the blame game. Eve undoubtedly went back and forth between blaming herself and Adam for the tragedy of Cain and Abel. She couldn’t help herself. But it wasn’t her fault.
Even if she wasn’t a perfect mom (which she wasn’t, because there is no such thing), there comes a time in every person’s life when they must take full responsibility and accountability for their actions—your children included. Cain and Abel weren’t little boys. They were old enough to be on their own and making their own living.
As a mom, your kids deserve nothing less than your best, but ultimately they make their own choices. Just like you wouldn’t be able to take credit for your child’s discovery of the cure for cancer, you don’t have to take credit for the negative choices they make. Playing the blame game only serves to:
- Lessen your self-esteem
- Prevent you from giving your children (even adult children) wisdom, advice, and a Christ-like example
- They distance you from God by filling your heart and mind with doubts, anger, and bitterness
Lesson Four:
Being a mom isn’t easy and it’s not always fun. In fact, it’s been described as the best and worst job in the world. It’s also the most important job you’ll ever have.
Lesson Five:
Grief will eat away at your heart, soul, and mind if you don’t give it over to God. While Cain and Abel were never erased from Eve’s heart or mind, she was able to allow joy back into her heart and to express that joy and love to her husband and the children that were born to her in later years.
You, too, can recover from your grief. What seems to be unbearable and never-ending sadness can and will be replaced by an ache in your heart for what you are missing coupled with the happiness of the memories you have of your loved one… If you allow God to work in your heart and in your mind.
To Sum It All Up
Eve was imperfect, emotional, hard-working (you try raising all those kids
without running water, and baby wipes), devoted to family, and she loved the LORD.
God knows you, too, are imperfect and emotional and he wants you to be devoted to your family and to him.