Made to Tremble: Finding Awe in Your Anxietyਨਮੂਨਾ

Fear Tells Us We Can Be Like God

When we feel afraid or anxious, hunkering near the one we trust is good. The problem is when you find your security and trust in an untrustworthy source. In Genesis 3, Satan deceived Adam and Eve by twisting God’s words in a way that caused them to doubt God’s character and intentions.

"'No! You will certainly not die,' the serpent said to the woman. 'In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.'"

When Satan said, “Your eyes would be opened,” the enemy brought attention to the fact that despite all God allowed Adam and Eve to see, they were shortsighted because they did not see and know the difference between good and evil. They were innocent in the best way possible, knowing only good, unfamiliar with evil, and unable to recognize the cunning ways of the serpent or the fact that they were naked. Yet, after talking with the serpent, they wanted to be like God, to see much more, to understand what good and evil meant. They wanted to have haughty eyes—eyes to behold things too lofty and too difficult for them to process.

Satan’s promise of experiencing opened eyes was this: When your eyes are opened, you’ll understand not just good, which is something you’re used to, but something else that God is holding you back from knowing—evil. You already know how good works, but you could know more. You could know how evil works, too. God already knows this—why can’t you? Why would He limit you from knowing the whole picture instead of just one part? Don’t you want to be like God?

With that question came great fear—Adam and Eve had FOMO: fear of missing out. Fear of not being able to know it all and have it all. The devil convinced them that God was keeping something from them, and they felt they needed to know about evil and good themselves. They did not understand that this unfamiliarity with evil was a mercy. They were good and wanted that which was good—to innocently be like God. Yet they listened to Satan because they were unfamiliar with evil and didn’t understand the consequences. Immediately, their world shifted.

They sought resources outside of their good Creator. They believed the devil’s trick. They rebelled against God and were left with subsequent fear and anxiety. They then attempted to cover up the whole ordeal with fig leaves.

Once the door was opened to evil, a crater opened between humanity and God, fracturing everything. As a result of listening to the devil, humanity would experience the consequence of its sin: divine judgment. The promised penalty for breaking God’s law was not just exposure, but death.

They were convinced by the serpent that they could live a life apart from the one who is their Life. The tree seemed pleasant and good to eat, even though God told them it was to be avoided at all costs. Satan deceived them into believing that they could live lives enjoying created things without obeying their Creator.