Fixating on Failure

And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves. Genesis 3:8 (nkjv)

Coulda . . . woulda . . . shoulda! How many of us have expressed deep regret when our choices resulted in failure? My father-in-law reminded us as teenagers, “Remember! You can mess up more in thirty seconds than you can straighten out in a lifetime.”

I have learned that hindsight is always twenty-twenty. Everyone knows on Monday morning how Sunday’s game should have been played, but few are savvy enough to call the winning plays on Sunday afternoon. Eve should have realized she and the Serpent were on opposing teams. Yet she treated him as a teammate and allowed Satan to call some critical, game-changing plays in her life. She ended up naked and ashamed because she foolishly traded paradise for a mouthful of fruit (see Genesis 3:7).

Someone once said, “She who fiddles with the Devil eventually faces the music.” It was certainly true for Eve. The time had come, as it does for each of us, to give an account for her actions. The Creator was in the garden. She heard His voice calling, “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:9, nkjv). Notice that God didn’t dwell on where Eve had been, but where she was. God forgives past failures and focuses on making our present condition better. Satan, on the other hand, keeps bludgeoning God’s children with the guilt and shame of yesterday’s failures and he provides no hope for moving on. He whispers countless condemning what-ifs, and he watches modern-day daughters of Eve tie themselves to self-imposed whipping posts hoping to absolve themselves of their guilt and find reconciliation with God.

Will we never learn that Jesus loosed us from our whipping posts when He was nailed to His? At Calvary Christ showed up ready and willing to clean up the mess Satan made in the Garden of Eden. This time He did not offer garments made from skins to cover our shame. This time He offered His own skin. His blood was shed to cover our sins. His life was sacrificed so we could get on with ours (see John 3:16).

Here I am, Father. I’m right here! I have been down many dead-end roads and I have messed up more times than I can count. Please, forgive me! I need a fresh start. Amen.