One sunny afternoon, I decided to do a photo shoot with Scrappie, our female Fox Terrier. That's the kind of thing you do when your brother is a professional photographer and you are relatively jobless! Anyway, I took this picture and I thought to myself, “Thank God Adam didn't choose a dog.”
OK. So I am not making sense? Let's read Gen 2:18-23. This passage is popularly used for marriages but there's another perspective to this story. In the passage, God admitted that there was a need in Adam's life (vs 18), He initiated the process of provision (vs 19-22), a process He goes through with us many times, and Adam confirmed that God met his need (vs 24). Before we go on, it is important to note that God may give us tasks that may not immediately tend towards a solution of our problems. I will need you to open your heart and read the passage thoroughly before we go on unless I won't make sense at all.
Now that you have read the passage, please answer this simple question: “What was God's initial solution to Adam's helpmate puzzle?” Did you say Eve? Well you're wrong! Verse 19 tells us that “the LORD God [had] formed all the wild animals and all the birds out of the ground. Then He (God) brought them to the man to see what he would call them. Whatever the man called each creature became its name.” It is obvious to see that God initially created the animals to be Adam's helpmate but surprisingly, Adam didn'tchoose one among them?
Now think of it, animals really do help us. Cows are used for farming; horses, donkeys and camels for transportation; goats ensured that I didn't always have to cut grass in a village I lived in; imagine eggs without chickens; dogs are used for security; without mosquitoes, pharmacists will go bankrupt in Nigeria; monkeys entertain us; I can go on and on. Let's look at the dogs? That is my favourite. Ever wondered why they are called man's best friend? They are simply wonderful and have quite a lot of similarities with women. These are the few I can remember right now:
OK. So I am not making sense? Let's read Gen 2:18-23. This passage is popularly used for marriages but there's another perspective to this story. In the passage, God admitted that there was a need in Adam's life (vs 18), He initiated the process of provision (vs 19-22), a process He goes through with us many times, and Adam confirmed that God met his need (vs 24). Before we go on, it is important to note that God may give us tasks that may not immediately tend towards a solution of our problems. I will need you to open your heart and read the passage thoroughly before we go on unless I won't make sense at all.
Now that you have read the passage, please answer this simple question: “What was God's initial solution to Adam's helpmate puzzle?” Did you say Eve? Well you're wrong! Verse 19 tells us that “the LORD God [had] formed all the wild animals and all the birds out of the ground. Then He (God) brought them to the man to see what he would call them. Whatever the man called each creature became its name.” It is obvious to see that God initially created the animals to be Adam's helpmate but surprisingly, Adam didn'tchoose one among them?
Now think of it, animals really do help us. Cows are used for farming; horses, donkeys and camels for transportation; goats ensured that I didn't always have to cut grass in a village I lived in; imagine eggs without chickens; dogs are used for security; without mosquitoes, pharmacists will go bankrupt in Nigeria; monkeys entertain us; I can go on and on. Let's look at the dogs? That is my favourite. Ever wondered why they are called man's best friend? They are simply wonderful and have quite a lot of similarities with women. These are the few I can remember right now:
- both love attention and respond positively to love;
- they can be very territorial;
- they can be very affectionate regardless of how you treat them. I'm not so sure if this applies to women (just kidding);
- they know how to make you feel guilty for not doing what you were NOT supposed to do in the first place (don't ask how I know)
Despite these striking similarities, why didn't Adam choose a dog or any other animal as his helpmate? It is simply because none of the animals could match up with the longings of his heart. Many of us have deep desires in our heart and many times we ask for things that we think will meet those needs. Let me explain. If you say that you need a Blackberry device, deep within yourself what you may actually be asking for is a good phone - one with a keypad, that can handle music pretty well and can manage emails effectively. There are many alternatives do deal with your “phone” desire. You probably think the Blackberry is your dream device because you have seen it around with people and there's a lot of media hype. If you can identify the desire behind every request you make, you will see that there are many ways of dealing with them.
There are, however, some desires that are much deeper than that. For those desires, usually there's nothing that you can see or probably have heard of that may match with them. You don't even have a map to this destination. This was exactly the kind of thing that Adam was faced with. He was in the best environment that ever existed (you think your desires will be met in developed countries? Think again). God personally brought every living thing that He had created to him (you think your issue is lack of resources? You may be wrong) but still Adam didn't see a connection with the description in his heart, so he called them dogs, chimpanzees, snakes, spiders, locusts, snails, donkeys, eagles, chickens, pigs, etc; but none was called Woman. One thing is for sure, women are very special. Have you noticed that the bible didn't mention that God rested after He created them?
Now can you imagine if Adam was like many people of our time? What would have happened if Adam decided to give up on that desire and settle for something else – what if he chose Scrappie instead of Eve? Seriously, how would our world have been if Adam settled for dogs? He wouldn't have been blamed? There was nothing in existence at that time that fitted the profile of a Woman so he would have been justified. Here's one for you. In weddings, our priests would have been forced to say something like “You may now kiss the bitch”. My picture above would have been one of the most romantic scenes on TV. The best way to have said “I love you” may have been “Ewn … Ruff! Ruff!!” This is getting more disgusting, isn't it?
What about your own picture? Is it really fantastic? Are you sure that you're not settling for less because nothing in existence seems to suffice? It's not bad to manage as long as you know that you've not hit your mark. Just like Adam's choice has forever affected humanity (and God's rest :) ), yours is also full of impact. I dare say that the deepest longings of our heart – especially those that we have tried to shake off without success – are directly from God and He's the only one that has the roadmap to success in those areas of our lives. We may eventually settle for less but just like a dog would never have been it, that other thing (or things) will leave us frustrated on the long run.
How did Adam go about it? What did he do to accomplish that great desire? Verse 21 gives us that answer. He did nothing, right? Wrong! He did something, he slept! We see that God put him to sleep. Sleep is a state of quietness. When you're deeply asleep, you cannot respond to external stimuli. In other words, Adam was still, he was in a state of absolute surrender. In that state, God was able to remove one of his ribs and divinely construct the physical manifestation of Adam's deepest desire – one that all normal men will forever adore, a masterpiece of all time, a reflection of God's extra touch, the finished product of Adam's creativity – the Woman. The bible records in vs 23 that Adam said “This is NOW bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She will be named woman because she was taken from man.” How did Adam know that she was taken out of him? It is not necessarily because his rib was removed, it was because he had her image in his heart all the while. Like Adam, you will have to look inwards and to God for the satisfaction of your deepest longings.
I am convinced that God was teaching Adam a very important lesson in life – that we are co-creators with the Almighty. Gen 1:26 tells us that we are created in God's image and likeness. Fortunately we only have to surrender absolutely to God for Him to complete His work in us. Surrender? Who likes that word? It's quite hard because we think God will want us to do some ridiculous things. But on what precedence in the bible do we base these erroneous beliefs? Or is it from stories that we have heard, most of which can't be verified? Could it be because of Jesus' suffering – the suffering that was meant to restore us to the relationship Adam initially had with God? Why would God want to work against a longing He has embedded within you especially since He knows the importance and the number of lives tied to it? Did you notice that Adam never told God that he (Adam) wanted a helpmate? God simply removed the blueprint in Adam's heart and created it because He “...is able to do in full measure more than all our desires or thoughts, through the power which is working in us.” (Ephesians 3:20, BBE)
Perhaps, your case is that you have tried to surrender but it's not working. I'm excited because God put Adam to sleep and not that Adam took Valium 5 and knocked off. God is the one that helps us to surrender not us. Self will cannot do it. Remember that it is God that works on the inside of us to do His will (Phi 2:13). It's a process but it gets better day by day. I don't know about you but if God was faithful enough to give Adam Eve, I don't think that He will give me a chimpanzee, feel me? So what's it gonna be: Eve or Scrappie?
Posts
