It always amazes me when I am able to parallel a common cliché with a biblical principle or passage of scripture.  I have been doing some personal study about Eve and her life in the garden of Eden.  In the process, an English idiom came to mind – “the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence”.   To sum it up plain and simple it means that what we don’t have is better than what we do have!

If we look at Eve the mother of all humanity, there is no denying she had the best possible life that anyone could have.  She lived in a beautiful garden, with no responsibilities, no hardships, and everything she ever could ever want or need was at her fingertips.   She only had one other person to share it with, but all of his needs were provided as well so all they had to do was enjoy life! 

How could it get any better?  As you know God only gave one restriction and that was not to eat of the tree in the midst of the garden  –  the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.   I guess you could look at this two different ways.  While some might think if I have everything else in the world why would I ever need to touch the one thing God said to stay away from?  Then there is the other way of thinking that would ask if God indeed wanted me to have the best of everything how could he withhold this one thing from me?

Although we will never have the “perfection” that Adam and Eve experienced, we can be guilty of being manipulated by the idiom that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence.  You see when God instructed Adam and Eve not to eat of that one particular tree He in fact erected the first fence or barrier. Because He is God He very well could have erected an actual barrier to keep them away from what was not theirs to have but He chose to leave the choice up to them.  He chose to put them to the test to see if what He had blessed them with was enough! 

Who knows whether or not God was not finished blessing them?  In our finite minds it’s hard to imagine a more perfect life than what He gave them. However God could have had much more in store to lavish on His two beautiful children.

We live in a world today where no matter how good or great something is, there is always something bigger or better.  To make matters worse you usually know someone who has that bigger or better thing and we can’t help but want it!  It doesn’t take much for the enemies of dissatisfaction, impatience, and even greed to subtly take root.  I can only speak for myself but I will admit that I have experienced finally getting that “thing” that I wanted so badly and then had to face the reality that it didn’t measure up to my expectations. 

Even more to the point, the “old thing” brought much more happiness than the “new thing” I had been longing for.   I make it a habit to thank God each day for the all the blessings I have in my life. Regularly I take a personal assessment of my family, my surroundings, the people God has placed in my life, the opportunities He has granted me, the promises He has made me that I know He will fulfill.  Then I say to myself, I truly am a blessed woman and if He doesn’t do anything else He’s done more than enough!