01/01 Gen 1-3
01/02 Gen 4-7
01/03 Gen 8-11
01/04 Job 1-5
01/05 Job 6-9
Often times, if I am reading something I’m familiar with, it is easy to overlook details because I think I know it already. This week as I approached the creation story in Genesis, I really tried to ponder truths that I had previously skimmed over. The verses that leapt out at me are found in Genesis 3:16-19.
16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
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.
As a married woman, of course, I’ve pondered these verses before. What does the curse in verse 16 mean for me? What am I dealing with here in married life? As I’ve researched the meaning of the verse, it has led to several contradicting explanations leaving me a little unsure of the exact intent. I believe that God’s perfect plan of marriage always included Adam (the man) leading his wife and Eve (the wife), being the beneficiary of having a godly, loving-protector as her husband, assisting and following the man she loved. But. That. Got. Messed. Up!
The most basic and straightforward understanding of the verse is that woman and man would now have ongoing conflict in marriage. No more continual harmony that Adam and Eve had the luxury of experiencing in the Garden. Enter the power struggle… Oh, I am a strong-willed woman. I need to get a grip on what I can do about this curse. And more, our culture is plagued with broken homes, broken hearts, broken children.
I won’t point my finger at other women, but as daughters of Eve, I know we are all in the same boat. Some of us may have figured out how to row better, but no one is without the struggle. Life can deal some hefty blows. Our husbands don’t love perfectly; culture tells us to give up or get revenge. We are perfectly capable on our own! Never mind the fact that, as a married woman, we have covenanted with God to remain where we are.
But praise the Lord, we have this verse to hold on to… to claim as our own… to pray fervently…
1 Corinthians 10:13 KJV. There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
God is faithful! We are cursed, yes, BUT, He is faithful. He will provide us a way that we might not sin against Him. And when we do fail, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.
As we find we have been victim of the curse (we gave way to the sea of emotions and tried to right the wrong by ourselves), let us remember the resource we have in God’s power. He can help us to bear the emotions, the jealousy, the despair, the hurt, and respond in a way that glorifies Him.
Oh, poor daughters of Eve, our task is a big one. Let us know forget the men though. I won’t expand on my thoughts on verses 17-19, but if our curse is such a struggle for us, we can assume that men bear a heavy burden in trying to provide for their families that we know nothing of. We want grace and mercy extended to us. Remember this when your husband works too much, brings home too little, overspends for the month, ignores you a little because of his hard day… (Possibly doing it to please you, just like Adam with Eve.)
Jesus! He is always and only the answer.
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