Sheryl Brady - Senseless Shifting

Genesis chapter 3 contains a very familiar passage description. I’m going to read just a couple of verses, and then I’ll let you sit down so we can read some more together. Genesis chapter 3, beginning at the ninth verse. You know the story; it’s when man falls, fails, and makes mistakes, and God comes looking for him. In verse nine, the Bible says, «And the Lord called unto Adam and said unto him, Where art thou?» And he said, «I heard thy voice in the garden; I was afraid because I was naked, and I hid myself.» Some things never change. And He said, «Who told you that you were naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou should not eat?» And the man said, «The woman that thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.» And the Lord God said unto the woman, «What is that that thou hast done?» And the woman said, «The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.» Verse 12: «And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.» So he’s blaming the woman first; he’s blaming God because He gave him the woman, then he’s blaming the woman, and she’s blaming the serpent. There’s a whole lot of blame shifting going on here. I want to take just the next few moments to talk about the subject of senseless shifting—senseless shifting of blame, of weight, of responsibilities, of guilt, of shame. There’s a lot in that text, and I can only get to so much of it today, but that’s what we’re going to talk аbout: senseless shifting. Father, today I honor You for Your word, for this house, and for Your presence that abides in this house. It’s so amazing, Lord. We leave, but You never leave. When we walk back in, we sense Your glory; we feel Your glory. We don’t take that for granted. We thank You for the angelic activity that is happening over our house. Thank You, Lord, for the divine intervention that is occurring even now over this house. Father, today as I break this bread and feed the flock of God, You know who would be here, You knew who would tune in, You knew who would need what. So today, I ask You to just move me out of Your way and use me as Your vessel, and at the end of it all, I will always give You the glory and honor. In Jesus' name, somebody shout, «Amen!» Just nudge somebody and tell them, «Senseless shifting.» You may be seated today in the presence of God. One of the most talked-about subjects today is mental health. I don’t know if it’s necessarily new, or if we’re just becoming more aware of it, but everywhere I turn, I hear the subject of mental health. It is something that people are becoming more and more aware of every day, and the awareness of it is at an all-time high. I am grateful that people are becoming more conscious and aware, and more intrigued to find solutions more than ever before because this is a real problem happening in our world. Mental health issues are never limited to one person. We might think, «Well, that’s happening to them; it’s not happening to me, ” but they’re never limited to one person. Just ask the families of those who were gunned down at that Milwaukee brewery this week, and they will tell you this is far-reaching. The truth is that a lot of mental health issues that people are struggling with today are a result of relational issues. So, I think if we’re going to address mental health, we have to directly address the relational issues we are having in our lives. How many of you know that great relationships are built on trust? If I don’t trust you, we cannot really have a genuine relationship. We might have a surface relationship, but if I’m going to really trust you, then I have to know that we are built on trust. There can be no trust if there is no truth. In order for us to have trust, we have to have the ability to be true to one another. Ephesians 4:16 says to let our lives lovingly express the truth in all things—not just in some things, not just in a part of our life, but in all things. Speak truly, deal truly, and love truly. Therefore, if we fail at being truthful, then there will be no trust, and where there is no trust, there will be no relationship. Today, I want to go back into the lives of the first family. I’m not talking about Donald and Melania; I’m talking about Adam and Eve. I want to go into their lives because, quite frankly, this is where it all started. This is where the trouble happened; this is where everything went downhill. If any couple should have made it and had a perfect relationship, Adam and Eve should have had it because they lived in the paradise of God. There was no other community for them to live in. They lived in the paradise of God; they had no kids; they had no waking up in the middle of the night with kids burning up with fevers or feeding.