“The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too.” Genesis 3:6 NLT
Our Heartstrong 2022 reading started in Genesis. Way back then, in April, as I was reading Genesis 3:6, something that stuck out to me and continued to roll through my mind for quite some time was this part of verse 6 – “and she wanted the wisdom it would give her.” I really felt that God was speaking to me about a personal struggle by putting this part of 3:6 in flashing neon lights for me! I believe He was telling me, “Woman, you can’t know everything.”
I have been blessed with a mind that wants to understand everything completely and solve every problem. I am always in awe of people with a solid knowledge of history, sports, music, the Bible; you name it. I’m so impressed when people can pull up facts quickly. I get frustrated when I can’t quickly answer every question my adult children have. Thank the Lord for the Google machine J
I believe this thirst for knowledge and understanding sometimes trips me up in my faith walk. I think the Lord was using this verse to teach me that there are things in the Bible that I will never completely understand. There are some things I will have to accept by faith. I’m not saying we shouldn’t study, learn, and use all resources at our disposal to try and understand as much as we can, and in the digital world, there certainly are a lot of resources at our fingertips. However, when we get to that place where our human brains end and God’s mysteries start, we must trust, by faith, that what we read in the Bible is true.
I remember once, long ago, asking God in prayer about this struggle within me. I asked Him why I couldn’t break through this glass ceiling of understanding. I felt as if something was holding me back from knowing everything about God, about faith, and that there was a gap I needed to fill. Finally, after struggling with this for several years, the Lord gently reminded me that I am human, not God, and some breakthroughs won’t come while I’m still on this earth. That in itself was a huge breakthrough for me! Instead of continuing to seek after the fruit, I thought God was withholding from me; I needed to trust and obey.
Thank you, Lord, for popping that verse out for me, to remind me that seeking after wisdom You don’t intend for me to have is futile. Thank you for reminding me to simply rest in the assurance, as Pastor Barry puts it, that You are Who You say You are, and You will do what You said You would do.
