Thursday-Stumble

They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.

1 Peter 2:8

Some people have terrific balance. It seems like they never fall down. They are so light on their feet, it’s like they barely touch the ground. Like a beautiful and graceful butterfly, they just float through this life from one thing to another. When I see someone like this, I have a few immediate thoughts.

• I dislike them.

• I despise them.

• I detest them.

And why? Because I’m at the total opposite of the balance universe. I never could walk those short five feet down a balance beam in gym class without falling off. If there’s a chance of stumbling or falling over something, I’m going to find it. The tips of my shoes seem to automatically discover cracks in the sidewalk to trip and fall over.

Now I know that someone’s saying that I’m making this up. That I’m highlighting the bad and ignoring the good. That I’m not all that bad when it comes to balance. After all, no one could be that bad of a klutz. No ones balance can be that bad. Could they? Hold onto your hats because this is a true story.

The weeds in our front garden were way too high. It seemed like they were overtaking the neighborhood. So, I put on a pair of construction kneepads that I bought at one of the local hardware stores. You know the ones I’m talking about; they have a plastic shell with padding inside to protect your knees. The idea was to go through the garden on my knees and pull weeds.

And as they say, the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray. I strapped on the knee pads, got down on the ground, and started pulling weeds. Everything was going fine. I was making good progress. I could see dirt again. I felt this great sense of accomplishment. That is, until I had to move.

I picked up my right knee to move so I could move on and pull more weeds. But when I put my knee down, I lost my balance and fell over. That’s right, I fell over while on my knees. I rolled over onto my back, crushing some of Mary Ann’s beautiful plants. It took me a while to get back on my knees and move on.

When Peter talks about stumbling, he’s not thinking about me on a balance beam or in the garden on my knees. Instead, he’s thinking about stumbling before God. The one who created the universe and keeps it going. Stumbling in front of our loving Heavenly Father who’s given us everything.

But why do these people stumble? It’s not their lack of balance, but their lack of obedience. They choose disobedience and rebellion over God’s loving and beautiful laws. And what’s the purpose of God’s rules for life? That we only experience the absolute best in this life.

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

Genesis 3:6

God gave Adam and Eve only one rule: don’t eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil[1]. That’s it. Not a lot of dos and don’ts. Not a long list of things to remember. God gave them everything, all the trees in the perfect garden, except for this one.

And what happened? What did they do? They turned their backs on their loving creator and God. Having everything except for this one thing wasn’t enough. They had to have absolutely everything.

But why? Because they wanted to be like God[2]. They believed the lie that God was holding them back. That God didn’t was not going to give them the best of everything. That God wasn’t to be trusted. And boy did they stumble.

Their choice changed the course of history. But even after their rebellion and sin, God wasn’t done with us. He had every right to just throw us away and start over again. But not the God of history. Not the God of the Bible. He immediately sets a plan in motion to bring us back to himself. He promises that someone will come and destroy the serpent and evil once and for all. This savior will crush the head of the serpent, but it will bruise his heel[3].

When we live where all the pressure is on us to choose, we’re going to stumble and fall. If a perfect Adam and Eve couldn’t do it with one simple rule, what makes us think that we’ll be able to perfectly love and follow our creator who deserves nothing short of perfection from us. Thats why God put all the pressure on himself in and through Jesus. He took our punishment on himself. This frees us to respond with wanting to please the one we love. We’ll do anything and everything just for his smile. We’ll give our absolute best because he’s already given himself for us.

Noodling Questions

• Describe three stumbles and how they made you feel.

• What do you immediately think when you see someone stumble?

• How does Jesus’ punishment and death take the pressure off of us?

[1] Genesis 2:17

[2] Genesis 3:5

[3] Genesis 3:15 NCB