What is Good & Evil?
Today I’m writing and sharing from the current journey that I’ve been on personally. Over the last few weeks I’ve been asking God to give me greater discernment. I want to know what it means to follow the internal leading of the Holy Spirit on my conscience. I want to surrender my thoughts and judgments in exchange for God’s truth and wisdom.
So this morning I felt the Lord bring to my attention the parallels between Proverbs 3:5-8 and Genesis 3:5:8. Up until last night I did not realize how much one interprets the other. I tried to research on it because I figured as beautiful and profound this revelation is, surely I thought someone found a tie here. But there was not one to be found. So I would like to share:
Proverbs 3:5-8
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.[a]
7 Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord and shun evil.
8 This will bring health to your body
and nourishment to your bones.
Genesis 3:5-8
5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
When Eve was in the garden the serpent tempted her to be wise in her own eyes. The devil told her to basically dismiss what God calls good and judge for yourself what is “good”. As soon as she dismissed the reverent fear of God and what He said about this tree, she perceived that the tree was good for food.
Today our society is doing this very same thing. They are attempting to remove godly principles and concepts from our culture, our institutions and from the fabric of who we are as a nation. They now believe that they have the final say on the hot topics of abortion, supporting the LGBTQ community and the endless ocean of topics and other issues.
Even as Christians we fall into the trap of trying to explain God and persuade others on His behalf. We spend so much time trying to fill His shoes and making declarations of what is right and wrong rather than putting on the shoes that are to make us ready to share the gospel of peace (Ephesians 6:15). We see in 1 Samuel 17:38-40 that David tried to wear Saul’s armor to go out and fight the Philistine. However, it was too big and heavy for Him. So he decided to just pick up the five smooth stones and take that along with his faith and his trust in his God. And this even ties in with what Pastor Todd has been sharing with us on the topic of king David. It fits so well (no pun intended). As Christians we must stop trying to explain God and attempting to wear and handle what only God can handle. In essence, relying on our own understanding instead of leaning on God’s understanding is equivalent to this.
I personally am at a place in my life where I no longer want to be a judge or a speculator of things too great for me. I want to trust in God as a child. Only He knows every heart. Only He understands the times and can explain the details. Only He knows how everything is to work together. All He’s called me to do is live a simple life, shine His light, love Him and love others. Love does not command or demand that we have to get to the bottom of details or figure things out. It’s showing love and compassion to others while staying true to the word of God, even when we don’t understand the “why” behind His commands. He is all knowing and only He alone is over all things and every heart. We cannot reach a world where we act based on our own finite assumptions or understanding. Only God knows. He will equip us for every encounter we ever have with others. We are better off to wait on Him and to be obedient. If we love Him and fear Him then we must not make room in our hearts for redefining what is good and evil.
Our culture is trying to redefine what is good and what is evil and none of it comes from the mouth of God. We have to reassert who He is in our hearts and our minds.