21 Days: Day 3

Devotional:Welcome to another day of 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting. It has been fun to wake up each day and hear new stories that all point to how our God provides, and that is exactly what we are going to continue to do this morning as we talk about the story of Adam and Eve.Going into this I had always known the story to be about how sin entered the world, but there is actually so much more to it. You see, Adam and Eve were the first humans that God created, and they got to live in this beautiful garden called the Garden of Eden. Not only did they live there, but God also lived among them - how cool is that?! While they were in the garden, God said they could eat any fruit they wanted off any tree except for one, the tree of knowledge of good and evil. So, being humans, Adam and Eve decided to do the one thing God told them not to do and eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Once they did this, they ended up having a knowledge they were never meant to have. Because they had disobeyed God, sin had entered their lives and it caused separation from them and God, leading to God making them leave the garden.For most of my life I thought that was the main overview of the story, but if we take a look at Genesis 3:21, we see how our God is a provider: “And the Lord God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife.”After Adam and Eve ate the fruit they realized that they were naked and made clothes out of fig leaves to cover themselves and protect themselves. But as God was sending them out of the Garden he made sure to provide warmer, more durable clothes made out of animal skins so that they would have the best shot of success out on their own. I absolutely love this idea, because this shows that even in their sin, God still loved them and provided for them. That’s the same thing I want you to walk away knowing this morning. Even in our sin and shame, God still chooses to love us and provide for us. For me, there have been countless times where God has shown up and provided, even if I don’t deserve it. One season of life that sticks out to me was when I was in college. I was in this weird phase where I was wrestling with what my purpose was, and making terrible decisions as an 18-20 year old. Even though sin was in my life, even though I did not want to be in school or do what I was supposed to, God surrounded me with a community of people who supported me and encouraged me as I worked to get my degree. Even though I did not care about it then, God provided me with the people that I needed, and today I have a college degree and a purpose.Challenge:·     Allow God to love you in your sin, and watch how he provides even in the midst of the worst choices. The only way we are able to do that is if we continue to go to Him for everything, the good AND the bad, so that HE can fix it and get you on the right path. I cannot promise that it will be easy to approach God with the sin that is in your life, but what I can say is that He wants nothing more than to love you where you are now, and He wants to provide a better future as you continue to walk with Him.Prayer:God, thank you for meeting us where we are at. Thank you for the countless times that you have continued to love us even if we do not deserve it at the end of the day. I pray that you continue to lead us, guide us, and provide us with everything we need so that we can be a part of YOUR will being done, and so that we can all move forward into the direction you are leading us in. We love you so much, and it’s in the precious name of Jesus that we pray, amen.