written by Connie Dunmyer
I have a new study I’m doing. I call it the “But God” study. It’s scriptures that say “But God . . .” – a simple but POWERFUL two-word phrase. These are God-Interventions in the lives of each and everyone of us. Because He loves us. Because He is Holy. Because He CAN! Keep an eye out for these verses. If God “intervenes”, there’s a very good reason for it.
Genesis 3:1-3: 1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
When I read this passage, the first thing I notice is the deception. Satan doesn’t jump right to the thing that is wrong. No. First he asks a question – that has a completely wrong premise. BUT because Eve thought she knew the answer, she “engaged” with the serpent. She thought she was “wise in her own eyes”. How often do I do that … like thinking I can handle temptation.
Those of us who grew up in the church are often quite sure we know “all the rules”. And that can lead us to being judgmental much of the time. But what it also does is open us up to the sin of PRIDE. Satan opened Eve up to pride. She thought she could handle it. Only to find out that she had been set up for failure by the very question.
BUT GOD . . . said don’t eat from one particular tree. Not all the trees, as Satan implied – but just the one. God knows what we need and what will hurt us. In our freedom, we think we can handle anything. And even before we encounter that situation God knows what is coming for us, He intervenes. He sets the limit. He doesn’t always explain it – but God says “do this”, “don’t do that”, etc. Sometimes God will protect us SO much that He literally pushes us away from a bad situation (a situation that may look perfectly good to us.) And that can be painful.
Then I look at verse 9. 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. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” [Genesis 3:8-9]
There’s so much I like in these verses. The whole idea of “walking with the Father in the cool of the day”. Of “hearing” Him walking – and running out to meet Him.
However, as with Adam and Eve, when we sin – we try to hide. We deny it. We think it doesn’t matter. Or it’s not really sin – we excuse it. We put on a good act. We push it further and further away into the very back of our consciences, until we no longer see it. WE HIDE from God JUST like Adam & Eve.
BUT GOD . . . calls to us!! First of all thanks be to God for not just leaving us there . . . not ignoring us . . . not striking us dead. I am so thankful He called me anyway! It’s not like He doesn’t know where we are. But quite often WE don’t even know where we are.
Isaiah 43:1 [ESV]: Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.
So here we have two “But God”s:
- God intervenes with a border, a rule, a boundary.
- God is calling us out of hiding, out of sin, out of our fear.
I suppose these first two “But God”s are often considered “negative” or “painful” from our finite perspective. That’s how it is with children. As parents, we create a border, a rule, a boundary – for their protection – just as the Father does for us. But when a child does wrong, their first instinct is to hide. And so we also “call them” out of their fear (hopefully we do that correctly). We do not leave them to their own devices. We do not ignore what they’ve done wrong.
And thankfully, God has shown us, His children, this INTERVENTION – a loving Father to a child who is imperfect and tries to hide that fact.
“Oh Father, thank You for calling me! Thank You for my borders & boundaries. Thank You for protecting me! You really are a “Good Good Father” (by Chris Tomlin).” Amen.
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