The Stress of Evil // Stress Busters, Part 5

A Different Perspective Official Podcast

We all know that there’s good and evil in this world. And at a personal level, evil can be tempting at times. It really can. The problem is that as sure as night follows day, you start dabbling in evil, and stress will start to fill your life.

Evil seems like a strong word doesn't it? I mean by and large you and I don't think of ourselves as being evil people. Well we're not a murderer or a rapist or a child abuser, well 99.99% of us aren't and so the word evil seems to be just a tad strong.

I'm guessing you know the story of Adam and Eve, God put them in the Garden of Eden, they had a fantastic life, they could do whatever they wanted except eat the fruit off one of the trees in the Garden, that's all. I don't think there was anything particularly special about the tree, no magic potions, no hallucinogens in the fruit, it's just that God nominated this tree to give Adam and Eve a choice, either to obey Him or not. God always gives us a choice. Genesis chapter 2, verse 9:

Out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

So what was the tree called? The tree of the knowledge of good and evil, where evil is defined as anything that rebels against God. Up until the point Adam and Eve ate the fruit from that tree they had no idea about what evil was, it was a concept but they'd never experienced it in their lives, they didn't know it, they had no knowledge of it and God warned them:

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to till it and to keep it and the Lord God commanded the man, 'You may eat freely of every tree of the Garden but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.’

Verses 15 to 17.

They couldn't say that they didn't know right? But then the serpent tempted them and Eve made the first move:

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise she took of its fruit and ate it and she also gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate it. Then the eyes of both were opened and they knew that they were naked and they sewed fig leaves together and made loin cloths for themselves.

Genesis chapter 3, verses 6 and 7.

Would you say at that moment when they knew for themselves the difference between good and evil for the first time they were stressed? I think so because the very next thing they did was to hide themselves from God, I mean just think how silly that is, when they heard Him coming in the Garden but eventually God found them and the consequences of their actions were devastating:

To the woman he said, 'I will greatly increase your pangs in child-bearing, in pain you shall bring forth children yet your desire shall be for your husband and he shall rule over you.' And to the man he said, 'Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and you have eaten of the tree about which I commanded you, you shall not eat of it, cursed is the ground because of you.

In toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Thorns and thistles shall bring forth for you and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground for out of it you were taken, you are dust and to dust you shall return.’

Then the Lord said, 'See the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil and now he might reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat and live forever.' Therefore the Lord sent him forth from the Garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man and at the east of the Garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a sword flaming to guard the way to the tree of life.

Now again would you say that this evil that they'd done in God’s sight caused them stress? Absolutely it did and it was a stress that lasted for the rest of their lives. Well right there you have it, when you and I rebel against God it is going to cause us pain and stress. I don't care what it is that we do to rebel against Him but there are going to be consequences, serious consequences.

A husband doesn't cherish his wife; a wife doesn't honour her husband, stress? You bet. A man decides that his life is all about making money and being wealthy, he chases after riches and sacrifices everything, stress? Well let’s take another look at what may well be a familiar passage to you, 1 Timothy, chapter 6, verses 9 and 10:

But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction for the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from their faith and pierced themselves with many pains.

Now that's what I call stress. What about anger and dissention and strife, back biting, dishonesty. Galatians chapter 5, verses 19 and 20:

Now the works of the flesh are obvious, fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissentions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing and things like these. I'm warning you as I warned you before those who do these things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Now that passage tells us all that stuff will end in some serious stress for those who do those things will not inherit the Kingdom of God. But from experience we know that all of those things create stress here and now too. Strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissentions, factions, envy, drunkenness and all that jazz. Would you like to work in a place that has just one of those things going on, factions and dissentions for example? Perhaps you do, well that's what you'd call a stressful workplace.

Would you like to live in a family where one member is constantly drunk? Anyone who has will tell you that it causes tremendous stress. You're getting the picture right? Sin, sorry to bring that word up but that's what God calls it, or would you perhaps prefer evil? Evil always results in stress, that's the bottom line. It promises a lot up front but it only delivers us stress and trouble.

Some people and perhaps you're one of them, I'm being very direct here, kind but direct, some people are wanting to hang on to some bit of evil, some particular sin and rationalise it away as though it's nothing. But it's like a thorn in their side, it causes them stress over and over again. I'm not going to forgive her for doing that to me. Well okay, don't forgive her but you're going to suffer the stress of unforgiveness for as long as you care to hang on to it.

My friend if you want to rid your life of stress, then the quickest and easiest way of getting started is to root out the sin in your life, pull it up by the root and throw it out. The moment you forgive, the moment you deal with your pride, the moment you stop quarrelling with people at work and stirring up trouble the stress in your life is going to subside. Why? Because God only labels something as evil, as sin if it's going to hurt us. Get rid of the sin and it stops hurting, it's that simple.

The only question is what are you waiting for?