Distrust
2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; 3 but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.'" 4 But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not die; 5 for God knows that when 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, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. (Genesis 3:2-6)
During the season of Lent, and especially on Ash Wednesday, we contemplate our mortality and consider our legacy - rather it will be a legacy of our own making, or one aligned with God's will for us. We endeavor to get closer to God and move in the flow of God's Spirit to do God's will in the world. The thing that most directly hinders our good effort is sin.
When we consider carefully, we will likely discover that at the heart of most sin is a distrust of God - of God's goodness in general, and God's goodness to us personally. It's this distrust that causes us to attempt to fend for ourselves and seek what we deem to be in our best interest. The problem is that we can't see beyond right now.
In the biblical narrative from Genesis, Adam and Eve are given only one limit to their freedom when God tells them not to eat of the tree in the middle of the garden - the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Why put the tree there in the first place? Why create the opportunity for temptation? God did not design robots. God designed us with free will because God wants us to choose to trust God. Unfortunately we have not outgrown the suspicion that God is keeping something good from us - the suspicion that when God says "no" to our prayer, God is being unfair or punishing us.
Thankfully Jesus flips the narrative. By fasting in the wilderness, Jesus placed himself at the height of vulnerability. Jesus was tempted to choose to satisfy himself - to satisfy his physical hunger, to satisfy his desire for recognition and acclaim, and to satisfy his desire to show his superiority and power. But, at every turn, Jesus chose the path of humble submission to God's will. Even beyond the scriptures that Jesus used to fight the temptations before him, Jesus had an unwavering trust that God's way is the best - and ultimately the only - way to victory. May we grow to trust God so completely that our questions, fears and present circumstances
never overshadow our faith.
1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 10 Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan! for it is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'" 11 Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him. (Matthew 4:1, 10-11)
