All little children have one thing in common; they don’t know how to worry. They are so dependent on the people around them, they don’t realize they are dependent. Their normal is to simply live and let the day unfold. They don’t worry about yesterday. They don’t worry about an hour into the future. They live in the moment and their minds are uncluttered. Jesus told us over and over to live that way. He even used a child as an example of what our lives should look like.
He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.’
Matthew 18:2-3
Ever since Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, we have been stressed out. God didn’t tell Adam and Eve not to worry when He created them. They were like children. They lacked the ability to worry. Don’t misunderstand what I’m saying. They were not stupid or simple. It stands to reason that a man and woman made fresh from the hands of God had to be brilliant. He created perfect creatures and breathed His own life into them.
They had the ability to comprehend God as He was; beautiful and loving beyond our comprehension.
In the garden, God placed two trees. The tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God only gave one command to the man.
And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
Genesis 2:16-17
The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was not evil in and of itself. It was the one thing in their whole world that allowed them to do what pleased God; live by faith.
- Faith in God is to believe He exists.
- Faith in God is to believe He is good.
How does faith manifest itself in our lives? If we believe God is completely good, we will do what He says. If we don’t, we will not do what He says. It’s that simple.
He could have made it impossible for them to sin. If He had, it wouldn’t have been a love relationship. Love (in its very nature) has to be a choice.
But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve….
Joshua 24:15
Even as His children, He allows us to live lives that will either bring shame or glory to His wonderful Name. He has no insecurity. He is not a control freak. Where He is, there is freedom.
Besides believing what God said about the tree, everything else was sight for them. God walked with them in the cool of the day and all their needs were met. However, God cannot change. From creation to present, without faith, it is impossible to please God. He gave one command in the garden. For them to live forever and enjoy God, they had to believe Him enough to obey His one command.
Enter Satan and the great deception.
He convinced them that they could not trust God’s goodness or His word. They believed him and ate the fruit.
When Adam and Eve sinned, everything changed…except God.
Gladys Knight sang about “The Night the Lights Went out in Georgia.” When the first man and woman sinned, something much bigger happened. The Light went out on the planet. The sun still shone but the Light of the World was gone. Adam and Eve must have looked at each other and thought, “What just happened?!”
When sin entered, God became someone to hide from, not a source of comfort. We have been hiding our shame from Him ( and everyone else) ever since.
Talk about two people full of anxiety. They had never known sin or shame (something all of us are super acquainted with). Their brains, that had enjoyed perfect peace from the moment they were created, became scrambled and panicked. When questioned by God, all they could do was make excuses and point fingers.
I wonder how God felt looking at His precious man and woman. He knew what had happened could not be undone. Humans now knew good and evil. Innocence was gone forever. Stress and anxiety became part of our DNA.
Are we stuck?
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
John 10:10
Greek definition of thief (kléptēs) – a thief who steals by stealth (in secret), rather than in the open with violence.
Satan did not tell Adam and Eve he was helping destroy them and the whole human race. He did it in secret, without violence. He deceived them and they willingly destroyed themselves. All he can do is lie. He can’t force us to do anything. However, he knows the power of our minds. If he can get us to believe him, he knows action will follow.
Satan came to completely shatter us, but Jesus came to fully restore us.
But now, once for all time, He has appeared at the end of the age to remove sin by his own death as a sacrifice.
Hebrews 9:26b
That little word “remove” means annulled. That’s a fancy word for a much better word; obliterated. Jesus obliterated sin so we can live in the presence of God again with nothing separating us.
We are not innocent like Adam and Eve. We have the righteousness of God through a new birth. He turned the Light back on inside of His children.
In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.
John 1:4
Since sin was removed by God, why are we full of stress and anxiety? We either don’t know it, or we don’t believe it.
The power of truth.
Take a hypothetical journey with me.
What if I were happily married and my husband was on a business trip? I trust him completely and have no worries.
As I am getting ready to have dinner, a friend calls me. She tearfully informs me that she just saw my husband at a restaurant with a beautiful woman, holding her hand?
Would that affect me? You better believe it. Why? Because my mind now believes several things.
- My husband lied about his trip.
- He is having an affair.
- My husband is not who I thought he was.
- My life as I know it is now over.
In an instant, I go from happy to shattered. My physical body reacts. My mind reacts. Why? Because I believe what I heard.
What if I call my husband and he says, “I have no idea what you are talking about. I’m in Texas.”
I probably would not believe him. My friend was so sure. Even though she didn’t approach him, she knew it was him.
But…what if I go to the restaurant and ask to see the surveillance cameras? I start to watch and see a man who looks almost identical to my husband. However, as I look closer, I see it is not him at all.
What is going to happen to me at that moment? Relief will flood over me. I may weep with joy that my friend was so terribly wrong.
My mind and body are going to be ecstatic instead of shattered. What happened? I found out the truth.
No wonder Jesus said, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” (John 8:32)
How does that play out in our daily lives? If we truly believe sin was taken care of on the cross, we would be overwhelmed with relief and joy.
Am I saying we will never sin again. Absolutely not! What I am saying is that when we do, we will know the safest place in the world to run is to our Father, not hide from Him.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7
The authority spoken in that scripture is mind-boggling. God is telling us that we need never be anxious about anything. Instead of anxiety, He says in every situation, we are to pray and thank Him as we pour out our hearts to Him.
He doesn’t promise to do what we ask, He promises something better: a great exchange. If we give Him our anxiety, He will give us a peaceful heart and mind.
Our failures and fragile nerves are meant to make us run to Him; like a little one runs to its mama. I think that’s what He meant by “change and become like a little child.”
Adam and Eve weren’t anxious because of an election or the economy, they were anxious because they were severed from the source of life…God.
Through the cross, that problem is gone.
We are hooked back up.
Let’s choose to believe it and let that truth set us free.
