When We Wonder If God is Good

 Genesis 3:1-7


Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”

2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”

4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.

Living in this fallen world can make us question God’s goodness. We might wonder why He doesn’t always fix our problems and give us what we want. For example, when Eve listened to the serpent’s lies, she began to doubt that the Lord had made the right choice in forbidding her to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Why would He deprive her of wisdom and the enjoyment of such desirable food?

Our thoughts are similar to Eve’s when we don’t agree with the Lord about what’s best for us. From a human perspective, “good” refers to that which is enjoyable, comfortable, or profitable. But God has a much higher standard and is always working to achieve His purpose—developing Christlike character in His children.

Behind every restriction or commandment from the Lord is His loving care for His followers. He knows the consequences of sin and wants to deter us from choices that will wreck our lives. 

Eve and her husband Adam both learned through disobedience that God knows what’s best. 

We have the opportunity each day to discover His goodness by listening to His voice, obeying His commands, and trusting His wisdom. Whatever comes our way, we can know that He is working for both our temporal and eternal good.





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