He Gives It Back
“…And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them…”
In Genesis chapter 3, Adam and Eve just messed up BAD! They rebelled and deliberately disobeyed the God of the universe. I know, right!? How sick and messed up is that! Talk about pathetic. They had one job, and if they just obeyed that one rule, they could literally walk around naked eating grapes and drinking Refreshers for days. Not that I would ever do anything like that but man, they screwed up a really good thing! But hold on a second, though. Before we cast judgment on them, it's important to know we would not have done any better ourselves. (Romans 3:23)
So, the Lord calls them out in the garden, and there are consequences of their sin to this day. But something very unique happens in Genesis 3:21. It says, “…And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them…”
They just sinned greatly against the Lord. You would think He was mad at them or didn’t want to talk to them for at least a week while He let his righteous anger settle. But that isn’t the character of God. Romans 2:4 says, “Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?”
When Jake gets mad, he holds grudges, gets bitter, and would never even think of doing something kind or thoughtful for those who he deems to have done something beyond forgiving. But God, who loves perfectly, doesn’t have that same mentality. Even though Adam and Eve have sinned against the Lord, He responds with kindness by providing clothing for them…They didn’t deserve it. They had just sinned and cursed generations to come, yet in the midst of their brokenness and shortcomings; He loved them by giving them the exact opposite of what they truly deserved—gospel kindness.
I just made a move in life that is going to require a lot of hard work and determination. The pressure is on, and if I let up for a second or become unmotivated, I am going to find myself in trouble. The other day I was given an opportunity to work for about 6 hours doing some mulching. I worked hard for those six hours in the hot sun and put my heart into it. When I received my payment of $100, I cherished that money and was grateful for it. Now I know in my head that every “good and perfect gift is from above” (James 1:17), but when I am sitting down at church, and they are passing the offering plate, acting on that which I know in my head is a whole new battle.
“Lord, I am here to prepare for ministry work. That exempts me from tithing, right?”
“You know that I don’t have much money and have quite a task ahead, so You would be cool if I didn’t give, right?”
To my own shame and sinful heart, those are the thoughts that went through my head as the KFC offering bucket approached me. With fear and regretful hesitation, I reluctantly placed my money into the bucket and gave my offering to the Lord. And trust me, I felt that fear. “How am I going to make it?”
Later that day, I drove for 3 hours to a wedding to watch some of my friends get married. After the wedding, I was invited by some of my other friends to dinner. “Our treat,” they kindly offered. I was grateful for that. I was blessed with some delicious food. When we finished eating, I gave them hugs and said goodbye. But before I got into my car, my friend stopped me and said, “This is for you,” handing me more money than I had tithed earlier that morning. My friend had no idea what had just happened earlier that day. He didn’t even know!
But you know who did? God. God knew. God provided. Not because I am special or deserve anything other than hell. But because God loves me, gave me a free meal, and blessed me beyond what I had given Him.
Psalm 84:11 says, “For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.”
Brothers and sisters, please let this encourage you today. Even if God never gave you any other external thing for the rest of your life from this day forward, KNOW that He has already given us the greatest gift we could have ever received through the precious blood of His Son, Jesus Christ.
But He is so kind and giving that He blessed us with so much more!
Do I still have fear? I sure do. The road ahead is HARD, but the faithfulness of God is TRUE. And He promised that He “will never leave me nor forsake me.”
No matter what bill you need to be paid, what hurt your heart bleeds, or what emptiness you might feel, our Father in Heaven loves you, and He cares for even the smallest details of your life. He will provide.
In light of that, walk in that promise and live in that truth.
L I G H T I T U P
