I was reading This Momentary Marriage by John Piper, which is online for free, and I came across something that I never thought of before in the first chapter.

This is Genesis 2:18-22.

“18 Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.’ 19 Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. 21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22 And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.”

Between “I will make him a helper fit for him” and “But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him,” God paraded all the animals before Adam. Every single animal went before Adam. I used to think practically nothing of verses 19 and 20. They had no use for me, because all animals today have names already. But I was thinking about this point made by John Piper, and I think there is something hugely applicable to be made.

Let’s try to place ourselves in the place of Adam. He has never met a single human being all his life. It is not good for him to be alone. Can you even imagine? He has sexual desires, but he does not know what to do with them. I know this might be a disturbing thought, but Adam is the first human being, so let’s cut him some slack. When these animals were passing one by one before him, I cannot help but to think that Adam was searching among them for someone to be his companion.

The “but” in verse 20 links the two sentences of verse 20 together. Sentence 1 says that Adam was giving names to the livestock, the birds, and the beasts. Sentence 2 says that he could not find a helper. I can find no reason “but” exists in that verse except to say that Adam was looking for a helper among the animals but could not find one.

Why couldn’t he find one? Adam’s companion needed to be of a specific type. This companion could not be an ordinary animal. This companion had to be made of God’s image also. So what did Adam do? He waited. And God provided.

I was thinking about this today, and it just dawned upon me how similar this was to the Christian life. Here goes.

It is not good for us to be alone. We were meant for a relationship with God. And so in this life, we earnestly seek that relationship that is suitable. However, we don’t have that in this life, or at least, we don’t have it in its full form. We only have the “animals,” the temporary gifts that God has provided for us. Sex, relationships, careers, and the like. And no doubt, when all these things are paraded before us, we all try to look for that meaningful relationship that we were wired for among them. However, at the end of the day, these things will all come up dry.

Why do they make us dry? Our companion must be of a specific type. This companion must not be an ordinary thing. This companion must be God. And so what must we do? We must wait. And God will provide.

– Larry