Genesis 3:19

"... in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."

With these words God pronounced the judgment upon Adam for his disobedience. God gave him one simple (or so it seems) command to follow. And he was unable to do as he was commanded. Having chosen to follow his own ways, Adam now found that he would pay the price for his sin. He would work hard for the rest of his life to gain food, whereas before the ground essentially gave it to him. And after a life of labor, he would return to dust. Ever since the dire judgment has fallen time and again. We work for our food, and eventually we all die. The testimony of thousands of years of human history is clear. Nobody is alive from Civil War times, for example, to tell us about the awful conflict. The last of them died in 1959. Nobody remains that witnessed the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The examples are innumerable.

The LORD told Adam that the day that he ate of that tree he would surely die. And die he did. The enemy told Eve that she would not surely die, but be like God knowing good and evil. Aren't we glad that we do? And herein is the point. The evils that we know are results of the fall. If there was one thing in which the enemy did not lie that day it was in this very thing. We daily know of evil. Just when we think the most horrible story of inhumanity has been told, something worse comes along. Not only is this so in a broad sense. But each and every one of us knows one type of evil or another. We can all testify of loss and hurt and pain. The bottom line is we know evil. Were it not so. But it is part of the curse.

So how can we possibly expect that we will never have some personal encounter with evil? Who of us can honestly, realistically expect that we will never suffer loss or pain? Isn't that an unrealistic expectation? But when it does happen, suddenly we say that God has made some awful mistake. Some even charge Him with evil intentions, assuming that a loving God couldn't possibly allow awful things to happen. But it isn't His fault!! Adam was told to not eat from that tree. Adam made the choice. He was standing right there as the serpent spoke with Eve. He was convinced by the lie, too. Interestingly, Adam immediately tries to blame both God and Eve for his own fall. Does this sound familiar?

True believers struggle particularly with the idea of pain in this life. Having been saved from the penalty of sin, there seems to be an expectation that we will also be saved from the impact of sin. But nothing could be further from the truth. Anything that we might have suffered before we most certainly could as likely suffer now. It is not God's intention to save us from the heartaches of this life. For they are the result of Adam's fall. We all are under the same curse of ultimate death as was Adam. God's plan is incredibly better.

The final, ultimate result of sin is eternal separation from God. This is in the place called Hell. It is a real place of real, eternal torment. Salvation is release from that final, awful judgment. For Jesus suffered that penalty in our place. By taking Christ as our Savior, His death applies to us. And justice is satisfied. But our bodies are born with the sin nature. They still want to go their own way. They must still suffer the curse that was pronounced in the garden so long ago, "...unto dust shalt thou return." And all of the pain and sorrow of this life goes along with that. The promise of God, though, is that one day we will have a new body, and spend eternity with Him. It is a promise from God! What can beat that?

But there is more. Those who know not Christ as LORD and Savior face the pain and loss of this life without help, and without hope. They are left entirely to their own resources. But those who are Christ's have the promise of His ever presence, "...I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." The believer also has the promise of His strength, through the Holy Spirit who resides within. The believer is not left to his own resources, but has the resources of the Maker of the Universe at his disposal. This is not to say that a given trial will not be frightening, perhaps even terrifying. Neither is it to say that it couldn't even be incredibly sad or in some other way emotionally affecting. Nonetheless, the promise of God is we are not forsaken. And God cannot lie. He also promises that all things work together for our good. The worst possible turn of events in this life are those that end it. For those who are Christ's, the wonderful promise is eternal bliss with Him. So even the worst possible outcome in this life will turn into the best possible result for those that are His. Those who are not have eternal separation from God ahead of them.

So, what trial do we face today? For those who are Christ's it is not the end of things. Rather, it is a chance to see the God of the Universe at work on your behalf.

HJK