Blowing A Good Thing

Have you ever looked back on your life and realized you blew a good thing? Many people have. Some have blown a good marriage, others a good job, some a good gig, others a good opportunity. The list could go on and on. I know looking back over my life I have blown many situations. I think we all could look back over our lives and realize we have blown some good things in our lives. Sometimes we didn't just realize how good we had it. As we look around at people who have blown different areas in their lives I think the main thing to think about is not that they blew it , but what did they do after they blew it. I mean, since we have all blown a good thing at least once in our lives, the key is what do we do after that.

I was thinking of Adam and Eve. You want to talk about blowing a good thing. They were living in paradise. They had access to everything except some fruit on a tree. And what did they do? They blew it. The serpent deceived Eve into thinking things weren't as good as they were. I wonder if after they blew it did they ever think to themselves, "we really blew a good thing."

What was the key for them to be able to keep going in life? God. Sure they had to live with the consequences of their actions. But they were able to keep going on in life because of God and His provision for them. What do I mean? Well, they both realized they were naked, they had done what they weren't supposed to, and they couldn't fix the situation. Their solution was to run and hide from God. Which ironically is what we often do when we have blown a good thing.

       They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
                                                 Genesis 3:8

If we aren't necessarily thinking of God in our lives, we may not run from God but we run from the situation, or we may from people. But again Adam and Eve were able to keep going. Why? God. Genesis 3:21 says," The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them."

You may wonder why is that verse so important. Adam and Eve had blown a good thing. God had told them the consequences of their actions. But still they were naked and had no solution. But God clothed them. Also, by killing an animal to make clothes for Adam and Eve Blood was shed. This points forward to a time when we have blown it with God and we can't fix ourselves before God. What did God do? He sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross for us. His blood was shed for us. He covers not our naked bodies but our sin.  Hebrews 9:22b says," and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness."

So the key for Adam and Eve to be able to keep going on was accepting God's provision for themselves. It is the same for us. We have all blown good things in our lives. God wants us to keep going forward with life and learn from our mistakes. But we also have all blown it with God at some point , and God wants us to accept His provision for us, His Son Jesus.

God's love is amazing. He initiated the whole restoration process with Adam and Eve. If it had been left up to them they would have been still running from God and trying to cover their nakedness with fig leaves. The same is true for us. If it had been left up to us, we would all be running and hiding from God. We would be trying to cover our sin with our own religious efforts. But God initiated the restoration process not only with Adam and Eve, but also with us. His love and grace are amazing !!!


Troy