He Will Provide

In the second chapter of Genesis, immediately after God declares that "'It is not good that the man should be alone'" (v.18, ESV) and says that He "'will make a helper fit for him'" (v. 18, ESV), He first parades every single animal in the world before Adam, in what seems almost like an attempt to find this particular helper.

Now I understand that this event does provide the necessary opportunity for Adam to name all of the animals, which served as a demonstration of Adam's dominion over all of them (Genesis 1:28). However, the text seems to go beyond simply chalking this event up as some sort of grand naming ritual in which Adam establishes and exercises his authority over the rest of the creation. In fact, there is an implication that there was some intent, or expectation, to find a helper fit for him. I'm referring specifically to Genesis 2:20b:

But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. (ESV)

No helper fit for Adam was found. None. They searched, they checked and tried ever possibility, and not one good match was found. Hm...

Now it goes without saying that God, of course, knew from the start that there would not be found a helper fit for Adam among all the animals. After all, before the 'naming parade' even kicked off, He flat out said that He would "make a helper fit for him." So God already knew that He was going to end up creating one more being to inhabit His creation. So why the almost-surprised-sounding statement, "But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him"?

In pondering this, one thought struck me: that God was working to instill something into Adam - an idea, an understanding: the understanding that God, and God alone, has the ability to know and provide what perfectly suits and satisfies Adam's (and, consequently, our) needs.

As I said, God obviously knew from the start that Adam would not be truly satisfied with any one of the animals He'd created. So, after looking over every possibility, Adam may have come to wonder whether anything at all would satisfy and suit him. Now hear me out, I'm not saying that Adam must have been anxious, panicked, frantically and hopelessly worried about being alone forever... but he likely thought, "Well, we've tried everything, and nothing's worked, nothing fits."

Then, suddenly, it seems, on His first attempt, God creates a woman, perfectly attractive and desirable and satisfying to Adam - the moment Adam sees her, you can just hear his tone: "THAT'S it! Yup! I'll take her!"

It seems, to me, that God wanted to send a message: that when things appear hopeless, as though everything has been tried and nothing has worked, God's limitless powers can do what to us may seem impossible. He knew precisely what Adam wanted and needed, and He was able to make her on His first try, with Adam unconscious, no less.

By perfectly making the perfectly desirable and suitable partner for Adam on His first and only effort, without any help or input from Adam, God sent a message: "I know exactly what you need, and I will provide."

Sadly, when Adam and Eve ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they sent a message of their own back to God: "We neither want nor need your provision. We'd rather take care of ourselves." We have all echoed this message with our own lives.

God knows exactly what we want and what we need.

Sadly, in this fallen world, the two very rarely line up - what we want is almost always harmful and destructive; and what we desperately need (God!) is often the last thing on our minds. We live in this fallen world because Adam and Eve failed to embrace, and trust, that God knew what they needed and would provide it.

Through Jesus Christ and His gospel, God has sent us the same message as He did to Adam and Eve: "I know exactly what you need, and I will provide."

Having heard this good news, let us not respond the same way that Adam and Eve did.

Praise God that, despite our blindness and ignorance (just like Adam was blind and ignorant to the fact that it was "not good for him to be alone," we are blind and ignorant to the fact that we need God), He has perfectly delivered precisely what we need - Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

My prayer is that we all would realize our deep need for Jesus Christ at every moment of every day. May we live, joyfully, in full awareness of this.

Your brother in Christ,
Alan