It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. Genesis 2:18.
After the creation of Adam every living creature was brought before him to receive its name; he saw that to each had been given a companion, but among them “there was not found an help meet for him.” Among all the creatures that God had made on the earth, there was not one equal to man. And God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.” Man was not made to dwell in solitude; he was to be a social being. Without companionship the beautiful scenes and delightful employments of Eden would have failed to yield perfect happiness. Even communion with angels could not have satisfied his desire for sympathy and companionship. There was none of the same nature to love and to be loved.
God Himself gave Adam a companion. He provided “an help meet for him”—a helper corresponding to him—one who was fitted to be his companion, and who could be one with him in love and sympathy. Eve was created from a rib taken from the side of Adam, signifying that she was not to control him as the head, nor to be trampled under his feet as an inferior, but to stand by his side as an equal, to be loved and protected by him. A part of man, bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh, she was his second self; showing the close union and the affectionate attachment that should exist in this relation. “For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it” (Ephesians 5:29). “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one” (Genesis 2:24).
God celebrated the first marriage. Thus the institution has for its originator the Creator of the universe. “Marriage is honorable” (Hebrews 13:4); it was one of the first gifts of God to man, and it is one of the two institutions that, after the Fall, Adam brought with him beyond the gates of Paradise. When the divine principles are recognized and obeyed in this relation, marriage is a blessing; it guards the purity and happiness of the race, it provides for man’s social needs, it elevates the physical, the intellectual, and the moral nature.
Conflict and Courage p. 14
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Prayer Requests
—–update—Myrna has passed away. Please pray for her family and friends. Also please pray for Lorna as her doctor’s appointment is not until tomorrow and she will be alone part of the day today. Rose
—–Please pray for my son who has an important job interview today. L
—–I am desperate for a miracle in my family. Please pray. Faye
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Dear Friends,
My mother was an artist with an artist’s temperament—nothing satisfied her for long. Everything that she made looked real and done to perfection, but she had to be in the mood to make it. She did beautiful glass etchings for awhile and then never did them again. Then she tried Indian bead-work, but that did not satisfy her. She did pen and ink drawings for awhile, but soon tired of that. Solid embroidery held her interest the longest. For years, when she wasn’t at work, she would make the most beautiful pictures, even going to the library to look at many photos of whatever she was embroidering in order to make it appear real. Her last embroidery project was a quilt of all the 48 states for which she won the golden state award.
Over the years her interest went from one thing to another, stuffed animals that looked so real that it was hard to believe that they weren’t alive, transforming her long, narrow screened porch into a jungle scene, macramé, designing and making her own clothes, plastic canvas creations…. Nothing satisfied her for long. Eventually dementia took away her love for and desire for her art projects and she sold or threw away everything including her blue ribbons and that golden award she of which she had been so proud. What a sad end to a very creative life.
How often we are as dissatisfied as was my mother. No matter how we fill our days, we feel like something is missing. We often are attracted to the pleasures of this world to try to quiet that inner longing, but we find only emptiness there. We try many different things innocent of themselves to try to find happiness, but we soon realize that they, too, leave us flat. Our restlessness increases. Life is short and soon passes away. It is amazing how quickly time flies. Peter tells us, “For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away.” 1 Peter 1:24 We have so few days to make the most important decision of all— “What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ?” Matt 27:22 Our answer to that question will make our life complete and bring us the hope of eternal life, or leave us even more restless and incomplete.
Truly, without Jesus we are incomplete. He is the only answer to that inner longing that is within us. He is the only One Who can quiet our restlessness. When He dwells within our heart, all of our longings are satisfied. Jesus bids us, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matt 11:28-30 “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” Rev 3:20
Moreover, when we give our life completely to Jesus, He imparts to us the Holy Spirit Who implants within us His fruit: “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance.” Then we have a peace, a satisfaction found nowhere else. We become changed. Paul tells us, “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
As we behold our Dear Saviour and His great sacrifice for us, we find the answer to our longing. We have the assurance that there is Someone Who truly loves us, Someone Who really cares about us. His love is more sure than even a mother’s love for her helpless babe. He assures us, “Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands, thy walls are continually before me.” Isa 49:15,16 May we open our heart’s door to Jesus Who gave Himself for us.
Rose