Not Good Alone

"The LORD God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.'"
Genesis 2:18 (NIV)

What's the first thing God ever called "not good"?

It wasn’t the ground, the animals, or anything broken or sinful, because nothing had gone wrong yet. The first negative statement in all of human history is about a man standing alone in a perfect garden. "It is not good for the man to be alone." God's creation wasn't imperfect. It was incomplete, and Adam didn't even know it yet.

Notice what the text doesn't say. It doesn't say Adam felt lonely, walked around with his head down, or threw himself a pity party. You can't miss what you've never had. Adam wasn't aware anything was missing. God was. That tells you something about how He loves you. God knows what you need before you ever feel the absence of it, and even when your life looks good to you, He's already working on what's best.

Another thing this passage tells you is that marriage wasn't Adam's idea. Marriage was God's idea, conceived before Adam ever imagined it, and before he even knew to ask. That's why a bad marriage isn't proof God had a bad idea. It's proof people keep turning His ideal into an ordeal and then go looking for a new deal entirely.

So before you evaluate your marriage, or your hope for one, by how it currently feels, go back to Whose idea it was in the first place. Take a moment to thank God specifically for the person He gave you. Thank Him for the qualities you appreciate, and thank God for them, even for the parts of them that frustrate you most this week.

Prayer: Father, thank You for seeing what I need before I know it. Thank You for the gift of marriage being Your idea and not mine. Thank You for the spouse You’ve given me. Thank you for their gifts, unique talents, and the way You’ve designed them. I know You will give me the strength to trust Your good plan for marriage, even when it feels hard. In Jesus' Name, Amen.