Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“But the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’”
NL Daily Devotion for Tuesday, September 14, 2021
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
I think maybe we all want to be God in our own lives. Or maybe I should just speak for myself. It’s something that I discovered when I got into recovery for food addiction 17 years ago. Through intensive reading and writing and step work, it became obvious that the greatest source of my stress, unhappiness, disconnection, and addictive behavior was the fact that I was trying to run the entire universe. I thought I believed in God. But if I did, I really had zero faith that God had anything to do with what was going on in my life. God was off doing other, more important things, and I thought it was completely up to me to make everything good. Yikes.
Right away, the very first humans decided they wanted to be like God. It was a resounding declaration that they did not trust God to take care of them. Ever time I am tempted to strong-arm the world into acting according to my plan, I’m eating the forbidden fruit all over again, defiantly proclaiming that I do not trust God to take care of me. Only when I confess this sin, as the first humans eventually did, can I let go of my need to control, get back to my right size, and resume living a life of sane and happy usefulness.
Are there times when I try to play God in my own life?