Thorns and thistles . . . . Most biblically literate Christians will immediately get this reference found in the third chapter of Genesis where we find the account of the fall, and mankind’s descent into the abyss of sin and death. Yahweh told Adam in chapter two that he was free to eat of any tree in the garden, but of one tree he must not eat, “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” If he does (the text says “when”) he “will surely die.” The consequences of Adam and Eve’s decision introduced hell on earth, and as history has shown us, it’s not a pretty picture. God in judgement explains the fallout of this disastrous decision:
17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’
“Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat food from it
all the days of your life.
18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return.”
In this short passage we have the foundation upon which the Christian worldview is built. We capture this in a phrase, “the fall,” things were one way, the way God created them to be, then it all went to hell. We might now say that this fallen world is the “natural” order of things, and in an instant the Second Law of Thermodynamics took over. Notice that this cursing of the ground because of Adam was going to make life extremely difficult. It would primarily be characterized by “painful toil,” and continual obstacles and frustrations known as “thorns and thistles.” Just to survive would require enormous effort coming from “the sweat of your brow.” Thomas Hobbes put this state of “nature” accurately, “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”
Knowing all this, I have a question: why do we complain? I’m reminded of a song by King’s X called “Complain,” it’s so much easier. It’s “natural.” We just moved (for the third time in three years) into a new home, and that song came to mind, a lot. To complain means that our expectations have not been met, that things have not gone like we want them to go, and we don’t like it one bit! Somehow it’s gotten into our brain that we don’t really live in a fallen world. We go right from Genesis two to Genesis four, and wonder, why in the world Cain would kill Abel? That’s not supposed to happen! Actually, that’s exactly what one would expect to happen if Genesis three were true. If a fall happened, and sin and death are now the mark of a world in rebellion against God, nothing should surprise us. Yet our expectations often ignore the gravitational pull of sin on all things. That’s why when “stuff happens” I very often mutter to myself, “thorns and thistles.”
Think, rather, about living life with the expectation that “thorns and thistles” can happen at any time, and more often than not will. Adversity, obstacles, challenges, failures, pain, frustrations will no longer surprise us. In fact we’ll expect them. When things are hard, very hard, God’s words, “painful toil” and “sweat of the brow,” will ring in our minds, and we’ll say to ourselves, of course they’re hard! They’re supposed to be! We will no longer think when things go south that they shouldn’t do that! We’ll no longer think this is wrong! We’ll no longer ask why, why, why! We know why. It doesn’t make these struggles any easier, necessarily, but we’ll replace complaining with the recipe for a prosperous and blessed life: trusting our Sovereign Almighty God. We’ll actually believe that Romans 8:28 is the truth, and start acting and feeling like it. We’ll stop feeling defeated, and acting like the deck is stacked against us. We’ll know that while perfect peace is rarely perfect, it is no longer so far away. And we’ll most importantly take responsibility for things, like God created us to do, and learn and grow and above all, glorify him!
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