No sooner did God put Adam in the Garden of Eden, God realized that life can be very lonely for Adam without someone to share it with.
The story of Adam and Eve reminds us that God from the very beginning intended human not to live alone. To be alone in any way can be very difficult if not terrifying. Loneliness frequently leads to anxiety or depression. Those who have lost their spouse or significant other often find it hard to cope with life.
For Adam in the garden, God put an end to his loneliness by sending him someone to share the journey. No longer would Adam be solely responsible for all God’s creatures. He would now have a partner. A more accurate interpretation of the word, “helper” is “partner.” Adam needed a partner, someone to share his trials and tribulations in the garden, an associate to share in the responsibilities and management of God’s creation.
Notice that the partner was created while the man slept. In other words, God’s creativity occurred while he was not conscious of what was happening. God never sleeps. God is always aware of our aloneness and provides partnership through others.
There is an elderly man I know whose companion died over a year ago. Now in his nineties he is not interested in another relationship. But his life is not without joy and meaning. Lately he has been spending time with his grandchildren, taking them out to dinner and attending their sporting events. His new “partner” is his new involvement with his grandchildren.
I am aware of another woman who recently had surgery and is recuperating at home. Her best friend, from another state, has come to stay with her for a few weeks until she gets back on her feet. She has a “partner” to be with during her time of recovery.
The “partner” God sends is not always someone we know. It could be a person of either sex, or even someone quite different than what we expect. For Adam, God created Eve, a woman, totally unique and quite different from Adam. In fact, you could say God created someone who was the opposite of Adam.
Do you suppose that God could provide a Democratic friend for a Republican? Is it possible that your best friend could have a different religion? Perhaps your newly created partner is a person of a different race. Perhaps they are from another country.
As I look back upon my own life I now realize that God was very creative in the partners that were provided during my faith journey. In my married life God gave me a wonderful, enegetic, compassinate husband. During my months in the Gulf of Tonkin, God provided a Southern Baptist from Georgia. Every time I was alone, God created someone different. I just wonder how many times I rejected the very person who could have helped.
I could share hundreds of stories like these. But one particular story says it all. A woman was in a serious accident in a city far from home. She felt so enclosed in a cocoon of pain, she didn’t realize how lonely she was until a “forgotten” friend in the city came to visit her. Her friend firmly, but gently said to her. “You should not be alone.” In the weeks that followed, this friend’s advice rang in the injured woman’s ears and helped her to overcome her otherwise reserved nature. When another friend called from a city several hundred miles away to say she wanted to come stay with her, the injured woman didn’t say, “Don’t bother” as would have been her normal response. Instead, she said, “Please come.” The friend was a wonderful encouragement to her. Then, another friend offered to come and help in her recovery. Again she swallowed her pride and said, “Please do.” The second friend stayed for several months until the injured woman was able to care for herself. (from God’s Little Lessons on Life for Women, Honor Books, Tulsa OK)
God provides partners for us in our times of aloneness in a variety of ways. Unfortunately there are times when we reject the “partner” God has created because of pride, stubbornness or our disbelief that God is creating on our behalf.
God is the creator, involved in individual lives. God also gives us the freedom to either reject or accept the “partner” that has been provided. Adam didn’t reject his newly created partner. In fact, he accepted her unconditionally. The chapter ends with this famous quote; “Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh.” Again, permit me to interpret this another way. The man, (Adam) put all other relationships aside and bonded with his newly created partner, (Eve). In other words, Adam is alone no more.
With God we are never alone. God is aware of our “aloneness” and creates “partners” for us even as we sleep. There is no reason to experience anything is life by ourselves. God wants us to accept our partners although they seem quite different from ourselves.