Your Hope In The Worst-case - Hope in Worst-Case Scenarios

“Then the LORD God said, ‘Look, the human beings have become like us, knowing both good and evil. What if they reach out, take fruit from the tree of life, and eat it? Then they will live forever!’ So the LORD God banished them from the Garden of Eden, and he sent Adam out to cultivate the ground from which he had been made.” (Genesis 3:22-23 NLT)

One day, Eve was prancing around the Garden naked—without the shame or annoyance of thunder thighs, a jiggly midsection, or the dreaded C-section shelf. Living the dream, right? As if she needed more, Eve could take power walks around the block with God too—no obstruction or hindrance to his presence nor their relationship—without having to bat an eye at fear, worry, sorrow, or grief either.

Seems like girlfriend had it made.

But then the next day, she takes a bite out of fruit straight from the orchard and is then kicked out of the only home she’s ever known, separated from a once-intimate relationship with God, and told of the excruciating pain that will now accompany any childbirth.

Uff da. In Eve’s case, she went from the literal best-case scenario this earth has ever known to literally the worst-case without a moment’s notice.

With sagged shoulders, streaked mascara, and quite the grind ahead, Eve moves forward out of the Garden and into the unknown, with one blaring question remaining… “Now what?”

Know the feeling? What do we do when the worst-case happens? When the last thing we wanted becomes our reality? When the circumstances of our day send us reeling, scrambling for the rewind button on the Roku remote of life? But then…there’s no turning back…no escape route or neon exit sign with an emergency door below…just the ominous, dark valley ahead?

Good news for us: Eve’s story was nowhere near over at this point in time (and spoiler alert: your story isn’t over either). When we follow in her footsteps, we don’t see suitcases thrown out the hedge window, their collection of fig-leaf undergarments spilling out, and with nothing more than a good riddance, a loud voice bellowing, “It’s over! And don’t even think about coming back!”

No, quite the opposite; did you know the Hebrew derivative of “sent out” in Genesis 3:23 is closely related to the New Testament Greek derivative from John 3:16? “For God so loved the world that he gave [or “sent in”] his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (NIV, italics added).

That means, just as He sent out Adam and Eve with a purpose, He sent in Jesus with a purpose—both totally redemptive contexts. God wanted them to live forever, yes—but not stuck in sin, eternally tainted by evil, relegated to a broken relationship with Himself. No, our God is so good that he sent them out, so he could later bring them (and us) back in—forgiven, restored, and healed through Jesus.

Since God is the same yesterday as he is today and forevermore (Hebrews 13:8), we can know our God isn’t holding out on us, abandoning us, or cruelly punishing us out of some sick pleasure either. Rather, he only ever has pure, good, redemptive intentions for his kids, and even in the worst-case, he has our best interest in mind.

Ultimately, no matter what we face, us Christ-followers can be sure our God will flip every bad thing for our good and his glory, and certainly, unquestionably, without a shadow of a doubt, redemption is coming for us too.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for your utmost concern for my well-being and always having my best interest in mind as you reign on your sovereign throne. I trust in your goodness, your plan, and your help. In Jesus’ name, I pray—amen.