Reinventing Eve

"Then the Lord God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone.  I will make a helper who is just right for him.'" - Genesis 2:18 (NLT)

It is in that verse that we come to find out the reasoning for Eve, for God did not believe it best for Adam to be alone.  Although there were animals in which Adam was given the responsibility for naming, God still did not find the "right" helper for him... and thus we received Eve, Adam's helpmate. Even the unchurched and unbelievers know what happens next as Adam and Eve were given a lush place to live, as well as enjoying a perfect relationship with God and with one another.  Adam and Eve sinned, and thus began the world we live in now.  Being a woman created in the image of God I obviously most related to Eve and find it difficult to see things from Adam's perspective.  Both Adam and Eve had responsibilities to own up to in the Garden, but my focus in writing is from a female perspective, after all...I am a female.

After reading through the first few chapters of Genesis and digging deep into the creation of the world and the fall of man, I find how God is showing me the process of reinventing Eve in modern times so that women today (and men as well) do not continue to live a life of sin.  My study bible in which I seek God's word is The Life Recovery Bible.  I utilize this Bible as I continue to work through my own recovery, a process that I believe will be lifelong.  Not because I don't believe God won't heal me, but because I trust Him more than myself to guide me through this life.  All that to say, by studying the creation of man and the fall of man I learned that God painted a picture for us of true love and commitment, as well as the first illustration of His grace.  After reading through the mistakes and weaknesses of Eve, I realize that I too fit those listed.

• Disobedient to God's plan revealed to her... check
• Not taking responsibility for her own sin... check
• Made excuses, rather than admitting the truth... check
• Her actions brought sin into the world... my actions may cause others to sin :(

So how in this world is God reinventing Eve?  I cannot speak for other women, but for me it looks like committing myself to a community of other single women, those that I can and agree to be transparent, vulnerable, and honest with regarding ALL areas of my life.  It also looks like me being honest with myself and another group of women I've committed to through a 12-step recovery program known as ReGeneration.  ReGeneration is "recovery in Christ when life is broken"... and boy how life is broken this side of Heaven.  Sunday afternoons are reserved for time with my Community Group, time spent with 5 other remarkable, God-fearing women who walk out their lives humbly, honestly, and selflessly.  Every Sunday from 2:30-4:30, the 6 of us meet as we learn how to reinvent Eve, to reinvent our lives through God's guidance, love, and grace.  We meet together because we know where any one of us stands alone it is that much more difficult to walk out what God is calling us to, what God asks of us.  On Monday evenings from 6:30-8:30 I confess to 10 other women my sin struggles and reveal what God is showing me through my own recovery process.  I learn from them truth, grace, love, and understanding of how to truly walk in recovery and humility.

Lessons learned from reading and studying God's word in the first few chapters of Genesis include, realizing a good marriage requires love and commitment, even in the midst of tough times.  When relationships accept God's grace and forgiveness, then they will persevere through life's difficulties.  The more complacent we become we breed ground for temptation and become less aware of Satan's schemes against us.  

I am weak, I am a sinner, I am prideful and selfish.  I struggle with admitting that I struggle with self-righteousness and believing that by following rules of this world or of my own decision then I am better than those who do not.  I see what Satan wants me to see daily, the ugliness of my sin.  However, I strive to see more than that and trust in the beauty that God created me with and intends for my life to exude.  My hope in reinventing Eve is that God will use what He is teaching me about myself to minister and to love others.  Not that I would be prideful or self-righteous in my own recovery, but that I would readily admit I am not perfect and it is only by God's grace that I may learn from my own mistakes and sin and turn away from them.  

I humbly pray to see a world where women come together to reinvent Eve the way God fully intended her to be, not the way the world portrays her to be or to have become.  I hope and I pray that Godly men would come forward and selflessly reinvent Adam.  The fall of man is how we got where we are today, but that doesn't mean we have to stay there.  God can and will equip each of us to humbly walk in the way He designs us to, if we would only trust His plan and His grace for our lives.

"Then God said, 'Let us make human beings in our image, to be like ourselves.  They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.' So God created human beings in his own image.  In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them." - Genesis 1:26-27 (NLT)