GENESIS 2:22, When God brought the woman to the man

Love, I can say it is the world's favorite word, favorite feeling, favorite place.
People long for real love and are dying to know what it is.
We just want to love and be loved - and it feels good.

Well I guess, it's no surprise.
God made us that way.
He made us for love - for Himself.
As 1 John 4:8 says God is Love and so Love is God.

In fact, if we changed the famous verse about "Love" in the Bible to "God", it will be fitted to some of His attributes and it goes like this...

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

God is patient,
God is kind,
He does not envy,
He does not boast,
He is not proud,
He does not dishonor others,
He is not self-seeking,
He is not easily angered,
He keeps no record of wrongs.
God does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
He always protects, always trusts, always hope, always perseveres.
God never fails.

And so I realized, all of us longs for God. How it feels to be with His presence - to be in that perfect place.

But as humans, we often get that source of love in wrong places - money, fame and the most common is relationship.

In this blog, I will just focus on relationship - romantic love if that's what we want to call it.

Did you realize that before there were Adam and Eve there were Adam and God and Eve and God first?

Genesis 2:7, NASB

Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became living being.

At this point when God created the first man, the first woman was not present yet.

Adam spent time with God first and it seems he is enjoying his moment with Him for he was not asking of God for anything - even for a companion.

It is God who said that it is not good for the man to be alone (Genesis 2:18) - not Adam.
It is His idea to give him a partner who is suitable for him and so...

Genesis 2:21-22, NASB

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 the flesh at that place.
The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.

The striking word for me in this passage is that when God brought the woman to the man - it means Eve met God first before she met Adam.
Adam was sleeping, right?
After naming all the animals, God lets Adam sleep and when he woke up - He has a gift for him.
The Lord is indeed a rewarder :)

Going back to Eve, her first moment in her life is so precious for it is with the Lord.
Eve didn't know there was something like Adam in that place not until God brought her to him.
And note that it is God who brought her, who leads her to Adam - not her seeking if there is such a man out there.

It is overwhelming for me to think of how women are so precious to God.
We are the last thing God created.
He intentionally spent time with Eve.
He did not leave her after creating her.
He did not allow her to wander at the garden and just be found by Adam nor found out for herself about Adam - instead, God formally introduced her to him as if God is protecting her and really cares for her (which is He really do).
God treated us as a gift - a valuable gift :)

All throughout the Bible, there are many love stories where women are always given to men - not men given to women nor women seeking men.

From Rebekah who was brought to Isaac from the land of Haran to Canaan (Genesis 24).
To Leah and Rachel who were given to Jacob as his reward for his service to Laban (Genesis 29).
Then to Asenath who was given to Joseph by the Pharaoh of Egypt for seeing God is with him (Genesis 41).
And to Zipporah being given to Moses by Jethro for helping his daughters (Exodus 2).
And there are many more...
All of these are not man-made ideas - this is the pattern of God.

See, ladies, we are a beautiful gift of God.
We need not to rush to seek men.
We do not find them, God brings us to them.
There will be someone "suitable" for us.

Go to the well, water the flocks and the camels, don't just stay at home and be lazy.
Rebekah and Rachel might have missed their Isaac and Jacob if they did not go to the well, if they didn't serve their families or if they just stayed in their comfort zone.
These women are not deprived of material things, their fathers have many possessions yet they don't act like princesses, the bible tells us they are shepherdess (Genesis 29:9).
Serve.
Do your work joyfully.

Enjoy the moment where you are.

Be kind and be willing to submit to your parents.

God will someday bring you to your own Adam, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph or Moses.

Maybe he is just sleeping right now or still busy naming the animals.

He might be on his way now to Haran or Midian - but one thing is sure God will not leave you.
Wherever you are right now, He will be with you.

He is our ultimate Lover, ultimate Protector, and our Safe Place.

In Him, we are already complete.

And for the men, God has given Adam the responsibility to cultivate the garden and name all the animals which are no joke at all.
He rewarded Isaac for his obedience, Jacob for his service, Joseph for his wisdom and Moses for his kindness.
The Lord indeed taught these men how to be responsible first.
He trains men on how to take care of whatever He has entrusted them.
He wanted to make sure that as a man, you are ready for something greater.
So focus on whatever the task God has given to you.
You will never know when is the time that He will wake you up :)

To dig deeper...

Did you realize that perfect love only exists between Adam and God and Eve and God? - Because when Adam and Eve met - sin entered the world.

Well this is just a reminder that being with your Adam and your Eve is not the best moment, the best feeling you can ever have.
The perfect place is not with them.

No one can replace God.

We cannot forget about Him nor live apart from Him.

And I think this is what it means of the verse from 1 John 4:19 that we can love because God loved us first - because He met us first.

Adam and Eve experienced God's love first hand and so they are able to love another just the way God taught them.

He loved you first before your Adam loved you or your Eve loved you.

God loved me ever since - even before I knew about love.
While I was still His enemy, He died for me (Romans 5:8).
He loved me the most when it feels I least deserved it and it makes me love Him even more.

So this Love month, may we not forget that God is the source, the author, and the perfecter of love.

We can love our own Adam or own Eve because we have met Him first. :)

Happy Love months everyone!

Rejoice! Jesus loves you so much! :)