Trust The Story

In Genesis 3, we still see “the man” and “the woman.” The woman has not even been given the name Eve yet. At this point, the story is still focused more on who they are in relation to God and each other than on their individual names.

God has created a place for them to live with Him in harmony. He has given them everything they need, along with one boundary.

Then the serpent enters the story and asks one question:

Can you really trust God?

The serpent does not start by telling them to completely reject God. He starts by making them question the story God has given them.

Did God really say that?

Is God holding something back from you?

Wouldn’t life be better if you decided for yourself what is good?

We hear the phrase “trust the process” all the time. Genesis 3 is almost like God saying, “Trust the story.”

Trust that I created you.

Trust that I know what is good.

Trust that the boundaries I have given you are there for a reason.

Trust that you do not have to understand everything in order to trust Me.

But the man and woman decide they do not trust the story anymore. They believe they can write a better one for themselves.

And that is really what sin looks like throughout Scripture.

It is not always someone saying, “I do not believe in God.”

A lot of the time it is someone saying, “I know what God said, but I think my way will work better.”

Adam and the woman do this in the garden. Israel will do this over and over again in the wilderness. Kings will do the same later in the Old Testament. The disciples will struggle with it. And we still do as well.

God says one thing, but we look at our circumstances and think:

I know, but what if God is wrong about this?

What if His way doesn't work for me?

What if I need to take control myself?

Genesis 3 shows us where that leads.

The harmony God created begins to break. The man and woman hide from God. They blame each other. Their relationship with God, with each other, and with creation becomes fractured.

They wanted control of the story, but instead they broke the world they had been given.

And that becomes one of the major themes of the entire Bible:

Will God’s people trust the story He is writing, or will they try to write their own?