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Announcer: It is not good that man should be alone. Yeah, I think we've pretty much figured that out. So why does He have us start out alone? Here, from chapter one, "In Search of a Help Meet."
Michael Pearl: God said, "It is not good that a man should be alone." Genesis 2:18. All us guys eventually come to feel a deep, empty, sometimes hungry need. Loneliness, a longing to have someone special with whom we share our most intimate self. It seems like the wait is too long. There is a reason for that.
We are following the pattern God set in the garden with the first man. Rather than have the couple wake up in a three‑bedroom, bamboo house in paradise, God created Adam without a woman, all alone in a delightful garden of animals and plants. I share your sentiment. What could possibly be delightful when you are alone with nothing to snuggle up to at night but a cabbage?
Adam's Soul Mate.
The first man, lying in his dusty womb, received his first breath from God and opened his eyes to look up into creation that would be his home. As he rose to view the wonders of his surrounding, he had a conversation with his maker.
God told him to dress and keep the garden and in the process, he could eat the fruit and nuts from every tree except the one in the middle of the garden. What young man hasn't dreamed of living in a paradise with a naked woman?
But, wait. For Adam, there was no naked woman, or even the knowledge of one. Rather, Adam, all by himself, was given the task of naming the animals as they passed in review. What a glorious parade that must have been, except there was still no Eve.
Apparently, by observing the animals functioning in family and social units, Adam became aware of something missing in his life. He searched for his counterpart, his helper‑‑someone suitable to meet his needs. But for Adam, there was not found in help meet for him. Genesis 2:20
There it is. Adam standing in that beautiful garden, surrounded by every kind of animal, knew that he was meant to be part of a unit of two. He felt his God‑given need for another person to be the helper of his soul.
Paradise is not complete without a pretty little partner. That is why we guys get so antsy in our middle to late teens and we can't keep our eyes off the girls and go to church and stare at the back of their heads rather than listening to the preacher.
We watch them parade around in their new dresses and are aware every time they fix their hair a little bit different. We can smell them and want to taste them. They are better than ice cream to a six‑year‑old. The need is so great, so consuming, so controlling of our every thought that it feels like a sinful addiction. "What is wrong with me? Am I going to hell?"
No, but you are catching on fire and you can't put it out. Love and marriage between one man and one woman can, with God's blessing, create a paradise. No wonder God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone."
But all things God created have context. Sex is intended to be the bond and blessing of marriage. All human appetites and passions must be managed and regulated if they are to fulfill the purpose for which they were designed. Sex was designed for marriage and marriage was designed for sex and much, much more.
The sex drive is the greatest temptation known to a 20‑year‑old man. The apostle Paul spoke of the only cure, saying, "It is better to marry than to burn." I Corinthians 7:9.
God made you that way. If you didn't burn a little, you wouldn't learn your need. It is not only normal, it is necessary. Adam had to endure it for only a few hours. We have to walk around on fire for ten years or so. It is tough, but worth the wait.
Hope deferred maketh the heart sick, but when the desire cometh it is a tree of life. Proverbs 13:12.
Good things come to those who wait. Your first responsibility in obtaining a beautiful help meet is to wait upon the Lord and to honor him so that he can guide and bless you with his best.
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I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. 3 John 4
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Adam might have taken years to name all the animals and plants. . . considering the variety and immense number. . . also considering how long people lived those days.
There are also older youth who 'wait' until well in their 20's to get married without becoming sexually active. Where are the men??? As far as I am concerned there are few real men of faith who are well trained in manners and intellect. They are certainly not in the church. I am thinking of my own daughters and many nieces who are fine young women in their late teens and early 20's. Some already have degrees and are started on professional careers. Where do they meet fine young Christian men?? (Both our daughters have gone into careers that are predominantly women.)
I just pray that these young ladies don't give up on finding a man they can respect and raise a family with. I hope that they don't settle for marrying 'a project'.