The Lord Stays Engaged

So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,” … To the woman he said, … To Adam he said, …
- from Genesis 3:14, 16, 17
 
Actions have consequences. The child who refuses to eat dinner feels hungry in the night. The teenager who refuses to study underperforms on her test at school. The athlete who fails to train won’t be at the top of his game. 
 
We shouldn’t be surprised that sin has consequences. In Genesis 3, the Lord describes the consequences that land as a result of the Fall: humiliation, resentment, pain in creation, broken relationships, grinding work, and death. The Lord doesn’t impose these consequences as some arbitrary punishment for sin; instead, they follow naturally from the behaviors of the characters in the story.
 
It’s important to pay close attention to the Lord’s engagement in this story. He seeks out the main characters. He listens to them. He responds to them. He stays, well, engaged.
 
This is one of the Lord’s defining features. When we hit hard times, he doesn’t lean back; instead, he leans forward. And this is, perhaps, the defining feature of Christmas: God leaning toward us. He shows up. He “moves into the neighborhood.” He draws near to us that we might draw near to him.
 
When have you experienced the nearness of God in a hard season? How might it affect the way we respond to our failures to know that God doesn’t disengage from us when we stumble?

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