When You’re Out of Position

If ever a woman had everything going her way it was Eve! She had a perfect husband, a perfect home with no dust and no laundry. No dirty socks to pick up!

She was the first woman, first wife, first grandmother, first seamstress – first in everything! First sinner! Eve was also the first person to receive the promise of redemption!

Eve, the First Lady of the Garden was in the right place, where God had placed her, but she was out of position. We have a place in the natural, and a position in the Spirit. When God approached Adam and Eve after their fall, He did not come with accusation, but with a question, “Where are you?” (Gen. 3:9). He was not asking their physical place, but their spiritual position. Where are you in your relationship with me? Where are you in the plans and purposes that I commanded for you? “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Gen. 1:28)

Gen. 2:16-17… “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 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 surely die.” God spoke a specific word at a specific time for a specific reason. This is the way God always speaks! God’s Word was the standard then, as it is now. It is the standard from which the actions of men and women must be judged as to whether they are right or wrong. What happened in the Garden? Where did it all go wrong?

As today, the attack was not against Eve, but God’s Word! The enemy did not care about Eve. When satan appears interested in your welfare you know something is wrong! Her response to the enemy shows us her problem. “And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, “You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die” (Gen. 3:2-3).

Is this what God said: NO! In a frivolous matter Eve refers to the tree in the midst of the garden, and then adds, “nor shall you touch it…” . Her attitude did not show respect for the Word of God.

We don’t know how many times Even had walked past that particular tree, how many times she had been tempted by the enemy, but we do know the beginning of her downfall was when she listened and responded to the voice of the enemy.

Eve had yielded the security and strength that comes from God’s Word for the temptation of the enemy. Eve did not perceive that she was being deceived because she was out of position. Yes, she was still in the beautiful garden – in the perfect place in the natural, but she was not in a spiritual position to be sensitive and alert to the temptation of the enemy.

Your position in the spirit does not determine your place in the natural, but it definitely has an effect on it! The garden was no longer a perfect place and there would always be a struggle in the world. The enemy had deceived Eve. His plan worked so well, he continues today, with his only weapon, deception.

We must heed Paul’s words, “But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” (2 Cor. 11:3) The good news is we have been redeemed from the curse of the law (Gal. 3:13). Even though we live in a world where there is no peace, we can rest and walk in peace, by the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ!

Joyce Tilney is the founder of Women of God Ministries.