Watching for Camels
In the story of Adam, we see that God doesn't need our help when it comes to finding a marriage partner for us. Does this mean that we don't have anything to do with the process? Should we just go to sleep, expecting that God will deliver without any of our involvement?
I don't think so. I believe that God's very relational nature means that He wants us to be conscious, under most circumstances.
Yes, God is responsible. He knows what we need much better than we do. It is also a fact, however, that even God's gifts are an expression of Himself, and all our needs are met as we relate to him.
These thoughts come to me partly as the result of the following passage of scripture:
And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide: and he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, the camels were coming.Genesis 24:63 AKJV
The context here is this: Isaac's servant was sent out with the task of finding a wife for him. The camels that Isaac saw were carrying the returning servant, and the wife that God had provided for him.
As I write this, I am putting myself back into the perspective of a young man seeking God's will for marriage. I had learned through Adam's story that God doesn't really need my help.
As time went by in my 20s, and I remained single, I found myself tempted to focus on the gift I wanted, rather than the Giver of the gift. God began to teach me, though, that being married would hold no lasting joy if I was expecting my wife to be my source of joy. I began to see that my "singleness" was one of the ways that God was using to get my attention.
This is where my story connects with that of Isaac, who received his heart's desire when he went out in the field to meditate. I truly believe that Isaac's quiet time in the field was a prayer, or just quiet fellowship with God. I doubt that he was jumping up every few moments to gaze down the road: he just lifted up his eyes, when he saw the camels.
My response to this thought was to purpose in my heart to devote myself to communication and communion with God, believing that the time that I would "see the camels coming" would be a time when I was focused on Him.
In my next article on the topic of God the Matchmaker, I'll take a look at the sons of Benjamin, whose story reminded me that God is amazingly creative.
Hidden Manna
We are given the promise that those who overcome will be given the "Hidden Manna". For most of us, we probably think of the time that we will be in Heaven, and are face to face with the One that called Himself the Bread of Life. I would like to suggest that this promise needn't be relegated just to the distant future. Consider the young nation of Israel for a moment: wandering in the wilderness, they needed food to eat. It is interesting to see how God addressed this need. It was entirely within His power to provide more than one day's worth of food at a time. If He had led them to a huge storehouse of food, they would have come to depend on that, instead of on Him. His method required them to get up each day, and gather only enough for that day. Those who disobeyed and gathered more found that hoarding was unprofitable.
With His promise to give us the hidden manna, God is offering us the opportunity to learn to trust in Him. We awake in the morning with absolutely nothing in our spiritual bank accounts. He credits us with one day's worth of strength, wisdom, endurance, and whatever else we will need. At the end of the day, it is all spent, and our account is zero again.
While it may be easy to think of this arrangement as God having us over a barrel, there is a point to it. He is a God of relationships, and He wants us to walk with Him and talk with Him every day. If everything were given to us, and spelled out a year ahead of time, we would be very likely to forget about Him long before the year is over. As it is, we are forced to go to Him daily for the gifts He gives, and if we allow it, we will soon find that the Giver is much greater than the gifts.
In the case of the manna, what does it mean to be an overcomer? It means accepting the fact that God wants to meet us every morning, trusting that He will never fail us, and refusing to give in to the temptation to try to "stock up" on His blessings. If we do these things, He will fulfill His promise to give us the hidden manna.
Man Goes to Sleep, Wakes up Married
This is the first of several articles about God the matchmaker. The thoughts for these essays first came to me when I was still single, and seeking to find God's will for a future life partner. I thought that it would be good to study examples from Scripture where God led couples together, hoping that it would help me to understand how He works in that regard.
Here is the case of Adam, where I will start with a passage from the second chapter of Genesis:
15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."
18 The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."
19 Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found.
There are a couple of things here already that I find interesting. God gave the man a purpose and a command. He was to take care of the garden, but he was not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. At this point in Adam's life, there is no reason to think that there was anything but sweet fellowship between him and God.
It is this fact that makes God's statement interesting to me. He said, "It is not good for man to be alone." This is said in spite of the fact that God Himself was there, available to walk beside Adam. His next statement clarifies this a bit, when He says, "I will make a helper suitable for him."
I've heard people say that God wants us to discover that He is all we need, before He moves to provide a spouse, but this passage seems to suggest that He actually wants to meet some of our needs through the agency of another person, rather than directly through Himself.
Some questions I had while seeking God to make His will known: "How much responsibility do I have to go looking for a wife?" "How will He let me know that I've found the one He has in mind for me?" In the case of Adam, God knew the need, and took care of filling that need, with no help at all from the man. Since God was the one that recognized this need, He took complete responsibility to fill it.
Adam seemed to have difficulty talking to girls before this point, for obvious reasons. He didn't even know the first thing about women, because there weren't any yet. He fell asleep, and, and as the title says, woke up married. God did all the work, and He did it right.
As a single man, this told me that God knew what my needs were, and that He could be trusted to meet those needs. With today's viewpoint, I believe that part of what I needed was the opportunity to love as Christ loved. A "helper suitable" for me has been one who has helped my relationship with God go deeper. Learning to protect someone and provide for them, while showing grace, gives me the opportunity to become more like my Creator. I think this is what He had in mind.
In future articles, I will explore some examples where men in the Bible had more personal involvement and cooperation with God in the process of finding a wife. The next article looks at Isaac and Rebekah.
To Go No More Out
Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name. (Rev 3:12)
To go no more out. This is a thought that carries meaning to one who is a sojourner and an alien on the earth. There is more significance, however, for one who has spent much time away from home. The thought of being away from the ones we love, from the comforts of home, or from the place where we are loved, is one that can make the heart ache. God promises to the overcomer that he or she will be made a pillar in the temple of God, and that they will go no more out.
My heart is pulled to this truth like a thirsty man to a cold mountain stream. Thirst that goes beyond a dry mouth has been experienced. A thirst where one no longer perspires, where food is no longer appealing, and the body or soul cries out in anguish. To go no more out. To be quenched of my thirst, and to be home.
A pillar is stationary, is part of the building, would be missed if it was gone. A pillar signifies strength, and beauty as well, most certainly. I am being made into a thing of strength and beauty, a creation of God's hand. Not just a brick in a remote wall in the basement somewhere, but something that God desires to write His name upon.
What does it mean to overcome? This question may not have an easy answer, but God's word says, "This is the work of God, that ye believe". Believing in God, in the word of God, and in the promises of God is something that takes practice and exercise. This particular promise states that we will be made a pillar, and that we will never go out. Is this for the "by and by", or can we abide in God's presence today? Can we state that we are there even when He seems far away? Can I state in faith that I am "at home", even when I am sojourning on this earth? Why not?
I believe that exercising faith in this respect is part of what makes me an overcomer, and as an overcomer, I can begin to experience the fulfillment of God's promise to make me a pillar.