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Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.’ So out of the ground the Lord God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper as his partner. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, ‘This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman, for out of Man this one was taken.’ Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh. (Genesis 2:18-24)
Wonderful Wednesdays are those rooted in the Lord! Happy Wednesday, dear friend! My prayer is that this finds you well and enjoying the blessings of the Lord, and that you find more as you study His word and pray with me and all the readers of ConCafe.
Funny things happen as you walk down hallways! This past Sunday I was making my way from my office to the sanctuary and I passed one of our adult Sunday school room. It's a class for young marrieds and people with young children, and I hear, "Reverend, please come in here!" I did and I had a chance to talk about Genesis and the creation stories. The question was about finding spouses for Cain and Abel. Ancient scholars used to debate the marriage of the two boys with "old world monkeys." I simply said that the excitement for God having created all things comes in two different and separate stories. Genesis 1:26-27 tells of God saying, "Let us make humankind in our image...So God created humankind in His image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them." Later, another contributor, also inspired by God shares the above passage, which I take to mean a closer look, a personal look at our Creator God; one who likes to get His fingernails dirty and who kisses the breath of life into His creation (which is why the above photo of dirt in a heart shape is there!), who declares His desire that "It is not good that at the man should be alone." Having already made the man, called Adam (ish), he creates all creatures and bring those to the man to see what he would name them. And the man named all things, but in the parade of beasts he did not find one that would be "suitable" or "helper" or "companion." Then the divine sleep falls upon the man, and God performs surgery, removing a rib from the man and out of that rib forming woman. This causes great excitement and the man waxes poetically, "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman (ishah), for out of Man this one was taken." Ish and Ishah; Adam and Eve. And the declaration from God: "Therefore a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh."
Monday's gospel text dealt with the Pharisees' question about divorce and Jesus' response was based on this Old Testament foundation. All Jews knew this passage and based their lives on it, and marriages happened as a result of faith in this, and they still do. And Jesus stressed the seriousness of marriage with the discussion on divorce being based on man's hardness of heart and remarriage for the wrong reasons was considered adultery. And, further, as children were brought to Jesus, He spoke on the care and attention all children deserve and receive when they are brought before the Lord. One reader responded to Monday's devotional with a personal story of how her mother-in-law, the mother of seven, had "the talk" with all of the future in-laws; "“We don’t have divorces in this family. Now is the time to back out if you don’t want to be married.” She added, "All seven couples are still married."
I personally believe God is involved in our lives if we invite Him. God knows and cares for us and our situations and challenges, more often than not, doing unexplainable, marvelous things, if we let Him. For the married, it is God's assistance in difficult to see beyond spats towards the bigger picture of an eternity spent together in love. I have shared how touching it has been for me in over forty years of ministry to be at those bedsides where spouses hold hands and love each other until the end of life here on the earth.
Whatever your situation; whatever your need, God is as close as a prayer.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, bless this dear reader. Father, you better than us, know what we face and what we fear. Help our unbelief and replenish our faith. Open doors that seem closed to us; close the ones that are open, but leading us away from You. This we pray in Christ Jesus' strong name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Be a great witness to the Lord by loving those around you, especially the ones you live with!
Eradio Valverde
Great Bible Resource for deepening your faith. 
