Saturday, May 10, 2014

Devotional on Genesis 2 - It Is Not Good for the Man to Be Alone


Scripture: Genesis 2:18
The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

In Genesis 2, after God made Adam and got him started on his work, God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone." What does that mean - "not good to be alone"? And was Adam alone? He had God. He had the animals. Adam wasn't alone!

Except in the sense that he had no equal. God was above him, and the animals were below him; he had no one beside him.

Until God put Adam to sleep and made "a suitable helper" for him out of a rib in his side. Now, it's important to note that Eve was made out of a part of Adam's side because that shows that she was Adam's equal. She wasn't made from a part of Adam's head, which would symbolize that she was above Adam in status like God was above Adam. She wasn't made from a part of Adam's foot, which would symbolize she was lower in status than Adam like the animals were lower than Adam. She was made from a part of Adam's side, symbolizing that she could stand side by side with Adam as his suitable helper.

Now, even though Eve was taken from a part of the man, she wasn't a man. She was a woman. She was like the man but different. And I think it is this different-but-equal status that she held with the man that made Eve an even more suitable companion than if she would have been just another man.

Men and women are very different. Maybe you've noticed that. We have a lot of similarities; we're far from being polar opposites as some people seem to think, but we also have a lot of differences.

In general, a man has different personality traits, strengths, and weaknesses than a woman's general personality traits, strengths, and weaknesses. This difference is what helps us to complement each other and work so well together. We can balance each others' perspectives; we can cover for each others' weaknesses with our complementary strengths.

It wasn't good for Adam to be alone because he needed an equal-but-different companion to be a suitable helper for him.

How has God blessed you with an equal-but-different companion? How can you work better with that person to more fully complement each others' differences? If you haven't found that person yet, what are some qualities that would be different but complementary to your own qualities in another person? What type of person do you feel would balance and complement your personal strengths the best?




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