God is For Us

 By: Joanne Viola

 

We just came through the season of Advent. The time of waiting. The time of silence.

We need to remember in the time of waiting, God was silent. Four hundred years of silence to be exact.

While the days passed for God’s people, life continued as always except the voice of God was not heard. The prophets had no words to deliver to the people.

During these years of silence, the people had to hold onto what they already knew. Their faith in the Word and promises of God had to sustain them.

It is when God seems silent that the enemy comes prowling.

“Be of sober spirit, be on the alert.
Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion,
seeking someone to devour.”
(1 Peter 5:8, NASB)

The enemy was prowling, and casting doubt, from the very beginning.

“Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.
And he said to the woman,
“Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”
(Genesis 3:1, NASB)

In truth, God had only said Adam and Eve could not eat from one tree, but from every other tree in the garden they could freely eat.

“The Lord God commanded the man, saying,
“From any tree of the garden you may eat freely;
but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat,
for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”
(Genesis 2:16-17, NASB)

The enemy wanted to plant doubt as to the goodness of God. He wanted them to believe God was withholding from them, not giving them the best.

It was the placement of the one word, “any”, which began all the doubt.

God was not prohibiting them from anything good, He was protecting Adam and Eve from death. He had their best at heart.

So what took place with that one question posed by the enemy?

Once Eve heard the words hissed by the serpent, she took her eyes off the many trees provided by God for their enjoyment. Instead of seeing God’s abundant provision, she now focused on the one they could not eat of its fruit.

With that one question from the enemy, Eve’s focus shifted. She could only see the one tree. The one tree filled her thoughts each time she saw or walked past it.

Temptation will do the same to any of us. It causes us to focus on what we can’t have, shouldn’t have, and will not be for our good.

May we keep our eyes focused on God in the year ahead.
God provides that which is good and beneficial.
God is always for us.

“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!”
(Matthew 7:11, NASB)

 

Reflection:
Is there something that seeks to tempt you to doubt God’s goodness and provision? 
What will you do to keep focused on God’s faithfulness?

 

Image by Agata from Pixabay