The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. (Gen. 3:21)
The flashing red and blue lights almost echoed through the darkness. The stone quiet in the police car felt horrendously loud, her worry mounting about what her parents would say when the officer deposited her back home. She could almost predict the shock on her mother’s face and the disappointment in her father’s voice. This could not be real.
She felt simultaneously invisible and exposed as the officer described her offence earlier that night. She could not even muster a feeble explanation. She had no excuse. When the front door closed, and the officer drove away, she braced herself for the lecture, the questions, the accusations. Instead, her father sat beside her and held her hand. Her mother fixed her a cup of tea. Quietly, kindly, they outlined the family codes she had broken and the measures that would need to be taken for restoration. Then they walked her upstairs and tucked her in for the night.
Adam and Eve broke their covenant with the Lord when they yielded to temptation. Their offence was a blatant disregard for the simple family code God had instituted in the beautiful garden. Their relationship with him was broken, and their shame welled up like tar. And yet the Lord saw beyond the moment to demonstrate love. He covered their shame with that first animal sacrifice and modeled what was needed for full redemption.
Look to the Lord to see beyond your offence to his grace.
Elizabeth Rhyno is a wife, mother, entrepreneur, worship pastor, and advocate for the wholeness and restoration God generously gives.
© 2021 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
