Articles
The First Family - 3
As a consequence of Adam and Eve’s sin, the first couple was banished from their garden home. Gone was the well-watered, fertile land. Gone were the fruitful groves and orchards. Worst of all, gone was pure fellowship with God and free access to the tree of life.
In their place, “Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return” (Gn 3:17-19).
“And they lived happily ever after” is the ending of fairy tales. Marriage in the real world presents a variety of hardships and disappointments which husbands and wives must learn to negotiate. We cannot begin to fathom the disappointment in themselves and each other which Adam and Eve experienced in the aftermath of transgression. With every strike of the hoe, with every streak of sweat, with every strained muscle, Adam would be reminded of what he had forfeited.
And for her role in the downfall, God said to Eve (and to all after her): “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in pain you shall bring forth children; your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you” (Gn 3:16). In the occasional miseries of fertility cycles, in the agony of childbirth, and in the midst of frustration arising from a subordinate role in marriage, Eve would be reminded of the price she paid for the knowledge of good and evil.
Don’t misunderstand: God did not remove all joys from Adam and Eve. Marriage is not consignment to abject misery. Romance and intimacy have their place (1 Cor 7:3-4). Comfort, companionship and camaraderie enhance and lengthen earthly life (Ecc 4:9-12). (In spite of our jokes about the occasional stresses of dealing with the opposite sex, studies have clearly shown that married people generally live longer than singles. There must be some benefit in putting up with each other!) Yes, husbands and wives can live happily ever after, but happiness must be mined from the depths of trial and tribulation.
Some people enter marriage with false expectations. They think happiness is found in a perfect mate, a home straight from the pages of Southern Living, a sound investment portfolio, becoming a CEO, and a Porsche in the garage. When they wind up instead with a husband who snores or a wife who doesn’t cook like mama, a mobile home, shift work, coupon-clipping and living paycheck to paycheck, life can turn sour.
Adam and Eve couldn’t divorce and remarry; they had to stick it out together. Life’s hardships remind us that we are mere dust. Happiness comes in accepting that fact and helping each other overcome our weaknesses and walk closer to God. (adapted from Hueytown Bulletin, 1/23/2000).
