The root of all our troubles in this life is doubting God and thinking we know better than He does.
It all started back in the Garden of Eden, where Satan tempted Eve by asking “He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1) And then, when Eve told him they could eat of all the trees except for the one in the middle of the garden, Satan replied to her, “But the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die.'” (Genesis 3:4)
Of course, we sadly know the rest of the story. Eve gave into the flesh, ate of the fruit and then gave some to Adam, who also ate of the fruit. Their disobedience to God’s commandments ruined their relationship with God, and the relationship of all mankind. They listened to that little lie “God didn’t REALLY mean…” and it destroyed their lives. All because they just had to have what God told them not to partake of.
And, ever since that time, man has done the same thing. I often hear people say “Oh, well God doesn’t REALLY care if we do this….” or “God didn’t REALLY mean we weren’t supposed to do that…” And it so often seems that the things people are trying to find peace about doing aren’t really important things or things they “MUST” do, it’s just little things they don’t want to give up or actions they want to participate in.
One of the clearest passages in the Bible is found in John 14:15, where Jesus said “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Not “If you love me, you will think about at least trying to obey.” And it’s not that we will obey Him out of a sense of duty or “Okay, I guess I have to…” No, it’s the more we love Him, the more we will WANT to please and OBEY Him, simply BECAUSE we love Him!
All of our problems in this life stem from doubting God’s ability to truly guide, control, and run our lives Himself, so we step in and say “God doesn’t REALLY care about this, or mean that…” Proverbs 30:5 reminds us, “Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.” The more we obey Him and do what He has said, the more we find His word to be true, and that He DOES mean what He has said!