Was it worth it?

Hey everybody!

Happy July!

Half of 2023 is gone already! I hope you are doing well.

This month we are continuing with “The Eve Complex” which is a 4-part series. The blog for March was “Did God really say that? The blog for May was Eye Candy. In June we discussed part 3…The Jealous Serpent and I am closing the series out this month with part 4…Was it worth it?

So let’s jump right in……

Adam and Eve had everything at their disposal… God gave them dominion over the garden of Eden, told them to be fruitful, multiply, and subdue all they were given. That’s all they had to do.

But as we know…. Eve allowed the serpent to heighten her curiosity about a tree she wasn’t even supposed to touch. He pretended to enlighten her by casting doubt about what God said. Now Eve had access to God the whole time, if she was that confused about his instructions concerning the tree…. she could ask Him or her husband but nooooooo she saw what pleased her eye and had to have it.

She let a creature that she was supposed to have dominion over… have dominion over her.

Her decision to bite an apple (which only lasted a few seconds) had a multitude of consequences that were permanent……as noted in Genesis 3: 16-24… the ground became cursed, childbearing would now be painful, Adam would lord over her, they were evicted form the garden, had to work to get food and sin entered the world.

That’s a hefty price to pay for ONE bite….as we can see disobedience is not the way to go.

 

As I just stated:

Eve let a creature that she was supposed to have dominion over… have dominion over her.

She took advice from a serpent…. that God clearly told her she was to rule over. The serpent was beneath her, not even on her level.

Why is it that we give more weight and allegiance, more loyalty to the created instead of the creator?

What has God given you dominion over that you’re letting control you? Your thought life? People’s opinions of you? Worry? Fear? Your past? Regrets? Unbelief?

What is dominating you??

 

The enemy knows it’s a wrap for him. His fate has been signed, sealed and delivered. I don’t care what he proposes to you or propositions you with, it’s never worth it!

The enemy to our greatness wants us to lose it all.  The Lord knows how cunning the devil is and how gullible we are as sheep so knowing his voice and following his lead will keep us from deception and potentially being destroyed.

 

My Eve complex didn’t advance my life one bit. It set me way back. I lost a lot and if it was not for God, my life would still be upside down right now.

I’ve never practiced New Age, but my idols were people, using all my efforts to keep everyone happy…being a puppet on a string and only including God when needed.

Now, I prayed, went to church paid my tithes, but I honored God with my lips. He didn’t have my heart. I gave that to people whom I thought I needed for my life to be complete.

At the time….I couldn’t function apart from toxic relationships; I allowed my life to be dominated by people and things that I should’ve had dominion over.

There is nothing that I did outside of God’s will, purpose or timing that was worth it… nothing.

As I get older, there are a lot of things that I wish I had done differently. I am not going to beat myself up or live in regret but hopefully I can help someone else.

I will always be a work in progress in certain areas of my life, I won’t get it right all the time. But there’s one thing I am working hard not to do anymore….which is learning lessons the hard way. I did that in my 20’s, 30’s and 40’s and I am not about that life anymore. It takes too long to recover!

I know they say experience is the best teacher and I agree that some things you need to experience first-hand for yourself. But this going in circles, repeating cycles, and doing stuff over and over that I know doesn’t work….nope…..I don’t have time for that.

For every poor choice that I made, God himself or someone who truly had my best interest at heart tried to warn me, but I didn’t listen. Just like with Eve, I had a “do it now” and suffer the consequences later mentality. There was a void in my life and I was just grabbing at straws trying to fill it. Instant gratification gave me the quickest but shortest relief.

 

God has placed wise counsel in our lives, people that are rooting for us to win, they have no ulterior motive and are sent to give us the truth in love. But too often pride and stubbornness won’t let us hear it because “we’re grown” and we know what we need. But it’s not until our lives are shipwrecked that we clearly see how the love of God was trying to get our attention through them all along.

 

Proverbs 27:6 (AMP)

Faithful are the wounds of a friend [who corrects out of love and concern,

But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful [because they serve his hidden agenda.

 

Some friendly advice:

Don’t be so set on learning everything the hard way. Yes, I have lessons from the difficult things I went through but there was also a lot of unnecessary pain that I had to work through. My flesh could not heal the pain of my soul…only God could do that.

I don’t have time to keep learning lessons the hard way…now I chose to learn them God’s way. God has redeemed the time for me and I plan to make it count.

So, from one sister to another……believe me when I say:

A house won’t heal your heart.

A new car won’t give you confidence.

Another relationship won’t remedy your low self-esteem.

And there’s not enough designer labels you can wear to make you love yourself.

It all comes from within.

If you have to lose your dignity, deny or denounce God, break your own heart, disrespect yourself or someone else, I promise you that whatever you’re doing is not worth it.

Suffering for Christ and suffering because of our own choices are two different things. One carries the blessings of God and the other carries consequences from God. And we must be honest with ourselves instead of placing blame like Eve did. When confronted by God, she blamed her choice on the serpent, took no accountability whatsoever. But owning my stuff was the catalyst for God doing a new thing in my life.

My advice to you is to let God guide you, let him lead you, show you the way, open the door (when it’s time), advise you concerning who you should connect with or separate from.

Learn to appreciate his NO as much as you do his yes.

Being good to his children is his nature so he won’t steer us wrong. What He has for us is better than anything we could come up with anyway. Trust His plan/path/timing…not yours.

 

Here’s a scripture we all know and love:

Jeremiah 29:11 (ERV)

11. I say this because I know the plans that I have for you.” This message is from the Lord. “I have good plans for you. I don’t plan to hurt you. I plan to give you hope and a good future.

 

So that next thing you are about to do or the situation you’re in right now ….ask yourself?

What I’m currently doing or planning to do…. Is it really worth it?

Are my choices moving me closer to God’s best or keeping me stuck?

Is my life moving forward with the people I have in it?

Am I allowing my life to be controlled by something or someone I should have dominion over?

 

When it comes to my way versus God’s way…..hands down….God’s way is the BEST……not the easiest…because your flesh will give you a fit.

But compared to my way and where I’ve come from….His way is absolutely the BEST!

I will leave you with one of my favorite scriptures that confirms God’s way is totally worth it!

 

Proverbs 3:5-6 (TLB)

5. If you want favor with both God and man, and a reputation for good judgment and common sense, then trust the Lord completely; don’t ever trust yourself. 6. In everything you do, put God first, and he will direct you and crown your efforts with success.

 

Please feel free to leave a comment if this blog resonates with you. I would love to hear your thoughts.

Also join me on my YouTube channel, Lessons with Leslie. There is a new video every Friday and also the Lessons with Leslie Podcast is available every first and third Friday.

Thanks for coming back and hanging out with me. I love it when you do!

I’ll chat with you in August.

I celebrate and appreciate you my fellow Party of ONE!

God’s best always,

Leslie

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I sure do appreciate you! ????