God didn’t abandon Adam and Eve, but their relationship dramatically changed. God no longer provided a perfect environment where gardening was immediately fruitful. Now, Adam would have to work hard to get the ground to produce food and sometimes his gardening efforts would all be in vain. Adam and Eve no longer had the same kind of provision, power, and authority they once had in the garden. And they and their descendants would forever wrestle between giving in to the pull of the flesh or surrendering to better choices that lead to God’s peace (1 Corinthians 10:13).
