Have you ever found yourself questioning God’s goodness?
Maybe life isn’t going as you expected, and doubts begin creeping in—whispering that perhaps God is holding something back from you. In these moments of uncertainty, we find ourselves in the same situation as Eve in Genesis 3.
Like Eve, we often face situations where truth and lies blur together. Sin thrives in that ambiguity, twisting God’s goodness into something questionable, convincing us that the paradise God has provided is actually a prison.
The Serpent’s Strategy: Twisting Truth to Create Doubt
Genesis 3:1 introduces the serpent as “crafty” (Hebrew: arum). The word itself isn’t necessarily negative—it can also mean “prudent” or “shrewd.” This nuance is important because it reminds us that deception doesn’t always come in obvious forms. The enemy works best in the gray areas, where truth is manipulated just enough to seem plausible.
The serpent doesn’t start with an outright lie. Instead, he exaggerates:
“Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” (Gen. 3:1)
That wasn’t what God said. God had provided abundance—every tree but one was theirs to enjoy. But the serpent reframes God’s generosity as a restriction, making it seem like God was withholding something essential.
This is where sin begins—not in blatant rebellion, but in small doubts about God’s goodness.
Misjudging Goodness: Seeing, Declaring, Taking
When Eve looks at the tree, she sees that it is good for food, delightful to the eyes, and desirable for wisdom. These are not inherently bad qualities, but the problem lies in how she determines goodness.
Throughout Genesis 1, only God declares what is good. Now, in Genesis 3, Eve assumes that role. She sees, judges, and takes—following a pattern that repeats throughout Scripture when people take what God has not given (Genesis 6:2, Joshua 7:21).
Sin is not simply breaking a rule—it is rejecting God’s wisdom and deciding for ourselves what is good.
Where Are We Distrusting God?
The fall of humanity in Genesis 3 is not just an ancient story—it’s a mirror held up to our own hearts. The serpent’s questions still echo today:
- Is God really good?
- Is He holding something back from me?
- Would my life be better if I took control?
The enemy still tempts us with a counterfeit wisdom that appears to offer life but leads to chaos. When we distrust God’s word and misjudge what is truly good, we step into the same pattern of seeing, declaring, and taking.
The Way Back: Trust, Obedience, and Surrender
Where Eve saw, judged, and took—Jesus trusted, obeyed, and gave.
The Gospel offers us a way back. Jesus, the second Adam, resisted the same temptation in the wilderness. He rejected the enemy’s twisted words and held fast to the truth:
“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matt. 4:4)
Trusting God means believing His goodness even when we don’t understand His commands. It means surrendering our desire to define “good” on our own terms and letting God be the one who declares what is good.
Reflection Questions:
- Where in your life do you feel tempted to doubt God’s goodness?
- Are there areas where you are deciding what is good instead of trusting God’s word?
- How can you practice surrendering control and trusting in God’s wisdom?
Genesis 3 is not just a story about humanity’s fall—it is a warning and a guide. May we learn from it, resisting the enemy’s deception and trusting in the goodness of the One who made us.