Beyond pain: Eve
She is the first woman ever recorded in the Bible. Eve was the wife of Adam. In the beginning, she and her husband lived in the Garden of Eden. Eve and Adam were perfect, whole, and without sin, and they fellowshipped with God as a man would do with someone they are close to. This means that she and her husband lived in a perfect environment where the presence of God dwelt in great intensity, and they were living under an open heaven. God’s visitation to them was not strange or occasional; He used to visit them every day. I believe that she was so used to living in such an environment to the extent that she became familiar and comfortable with the presence of God. She did not realize that she could get deceived. So when the enemy came, Eve was not on guard. She comfortably conversed with the serpent and without her knowledge, she got deceived.
Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” ~ Genesis 3:13 ESV
The enemy succeeded in deviating her from the will of God, and through her, sin entered into the world. She wasn’t evil herself; she was only used as a vessel to separate humanity from God, or in other words, to break the fellowship between God and man. I believe that as much as we read about this encounter and judge her, we must understand that anybody, including the stronger one, can easily fall. No one is perfect, and anyone can be caught off guard, just like her. Her actions led to the downfall of humanity, and God had this to say to her;
“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” ~ Genesis 3:16 ESV
Eve suffered the consequences of her mistakes, as we see in the above scripture. God multiplied her pain in childbearing. This pain has been used in the scriptures as an example to describe something that will bring much discomfort or distress in a situation or in the lives of people. Watch this;
They will be dismayed: pangs and agony will seize them; they will be in anguish like a woman in labor. They will look aghast at one another; their faces will be aflame ~ Isaiah 13:8 ESV
Trembling took hold of them there, anguish as of a woman in labor ~ Psalm 48:6 ESV
What will you say when they set as head over you those whom you yourself have taught to be friends to you? Will not pangs take hold of you like those of a woman in labor? Jeremiah 13:21 ESV
Damascus has become feeble, she turned to flee, and panic seized her; anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her, as of a woman in labor ~ Jeremiah 49:24 ESV
Eve had an opportunity to do things right, but she messed it up. I know many of us do not comprehend why she decided to make the mistake she made, and worse still, many of us cannot help but blame her for her carelessness. Had she done things right, we would be living in paradise today. Yet we tend to forget that more than once, we have acted the same way she did. If we put ourselves in her shoes, we would realize that we have had an opportunity to do one thing, just one thing right, but we messed it up. As a result, things blew up or have blown up, and some are living with the consequences. Pain we could have avoided entered into our lives, and many are yet to recover.
Our pains are unique to us, but we must understand that it’s not God punishing us, but that we are suffering the consequences of our mistakes and disobedience. Some are in bad debts, while for others, its failed businesses, closed doors, divorce, financial loss, failed relationships, guilt, condemnation, depression, and so forth.
I believe that many of us can say that we are where we are today because we made wrong decisions or blew up an opportunity to do one thing right, but we didn’t. Others are constantly failing every day and can’t seem to do what we know is good, right, and in alignment with the will of God for our lives. As a result, we keep failing and blowing up opportunities that God has given us to progress, prosper, or better our lives.
The temptation to go the wrong way, or to do what is contrary to the will or word of God for our lives keeps overshadowing us, and we keep failing. And all of us can relate. However, we need to understand that even if Eve messed up, she still was useful to God.
Our mess and failure does not intimidate or limit God. It doesn’t even mean that we cannot be useful to Him.
All we need is to consciously accept that we have failed, pick ourselves up from where we have failed, surrender ourselves to God, and let Him accomplish His divine plans and purposes through us and in us. The potential of Eve to become the mother of humanity was still in her, and all of us came from her. She was still able to bring forth children, meaning she was fruitful and productive. God did not take away His blessing from her when she messed up. He had declared during creation;
“Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Genesis 1:26-28 ESV
This declaration was God’s original mandate for humanity, and He didn’t change it even after man fell. It stands even today no matter how much you have fallen or how many opportunities you have blown up. God’s desire is for you to be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth, not just with beautiful children, but also with mind-blowing ideas and witty inventions. It’s in your fruitfulness and multiplication that you subdue and dominate your world.
Your failure to be fruitful, multiply and subdue the earth does not just affect you, but others as well. When you limit yourself, you limit someone else. God desires to use you to empower, uplift and enlighten others so that they can become all they were created to become. Therefore, pick yourself up and fight whatever holds you back; learn to see yourself beyond your shortcomings, failures, depression, and limitations, and unleash your potential; shift your focus from all the opportunities you have blown up and look deeper within you because there is so much wealth of potential you are carrying inside of you. That potential cannot be realized if you keep seeing yourself through the filter of your shortcomings and failures.
As much as we don’t like going through pain or experiencing it, we need to understand that God uses pain in our lives to birth new seasons, beginnings, purposes, and His plans on earth.
That is why the scripture constantly talks about “pain as that of a woman in labor.” We don’t need to be told that a woman in labor has been carrying her pregnancy for nine months and is now due for delivery. Jesus noted in the book of John;
Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world ~ John 16:20-21 ESV
God declared to the enemy that the same woman he used to mess His plans up, will bear a seed that would bring his downfall.
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” ~ Genesis 3:15 ESV
Whatever the enemy has used to bring you down, will be the same thing God will use to manifest His divine plans and purposes for your life. All you need is to release yourself to Him and partner with Him so that He can use you as a vessel of honor.
