Unearned Thorns: Week 5

Once Upon Curse STUDY

This Bible Study series accompanies my new book Once Upon a Curse. Depression and disappointment peaks when life doesn’t go as planned, especially when our meaning and purpose hangs in the balance. Today we will consider the ramifications of the curse proclaimed to the man.

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The curse that haunts mankind. Decay, destruction, unending labor, and a struggle with meaningless work. Positive thoughts and endless attempts do not relieve the angst. Dreams and high ambitions haunt and tease. The well-plotted future does not always materialize. And then, sometimes it’s bright. The path through life teeters on the edge of excitement and unfairness. Often there is no rhyme or reason to why our good intentions may just fail and die.

But when something finally crumbles, be it a person, a life, a job, a relationship, we have the chance to see our internal lack of power to bring it back, to resurrect, to make it grow again. Cursed from the Garden of Eden, the world, the creation, our efforts will eventually prove to be unfruitful. This is a piece of the curse from the very beginning of the story. Man and woman were forewarned that their hard work would yield dead thorns and thistles from their endless labor.

READ Genesis 3:17-18

What is the changed world the man has to struggle in?

Cursed is the ground and to dust you shall return. It all is an empire of dirt. Build it, play with it for awhile, but then it will blow away. Fail. Disappoint. Important things that we will spend half of our lives cultivating, will not yield what we want.

READ Romans 8:21-23

What is the cry of all creation?

There are times when we are overwhelmed with the curses. Because when dealing with the world outside of us, it is beyond our ability to change or heal the greater reality around us. We learn we are not God, rather we are His creatures. We learn that we are subject to wind and waves, earthquakes and death. But in the face of this uncontrolled cursed reality, God wants us to pray, scream, yell, and complain about these things to him.

Prayers to God do not have to sound like clean and tidy praises, only thanking Him for the good. They do not always end with confident expectation. They do not have to impress and inspire us to clean up and sit up straight. Prayers to God can just as well be messy, unfinished, conflicted, raw, complaints to an absent Heavenly Father.

READ Psalm 13

What is the prayer of David?