Discovering Truth:

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being,  And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He Had formed.

Genesis 2:7-8

Then the Lord God took the man and put Him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.

Genesis 2:15

We are reminded that God, in His wisdom, created the Earth and all things in it.  God spoke, and it stood forth.  Yet, we find here that God is forming this man very personally and individually.  He reaches down to the dust of the ground, and there He forms the first man.  His creation of the man was personal and individual, and according to His perfect design.  He forms the man first, for His own plan and purpose.  And then, God breathes into him and makes him alive!

God, in His wisdom, also creates a work for the man to do.  He plants the garden and takes the man to the garden for it is there where he is to serve the Lord.  He is given the job to tend and keep the garden. Our word tend is most often translated: to serve, and our word keep carries the meaning: to guard, to preserve, to protect.

Lastly, God commands the man regarding the garden, the trees of the garden, and fruit of those trees.

From these verses, what truths can we glean about God’s perfect design for the man?  It is interesting to note that the man was formed from the very substance where he was to serve God.  It was not up to man to find where he was to serve His Creator.  God Himself took the man and placed him there. Creator God, in His rightful authority, commanded the man.  Allowing great freedom and pure enjoyment of the garden, God gave the man one command of restriction, and with that single restriction, there was a stern warning given. Also, in God’s perfect design, He had created the man first, designating him as the one who would lead (1 Timothy 2:13).

God had made the man, designed to perfection, equipped with the strength, ability, and discernment to both tend and keep the garden.  Man was meant to serve and guard, and through that work, to provide, protect, and lead.  The man began his work by naming the animals over which God had given him dominion.

Perfect God, perfect Creation, perfect man, perfect fellowship with God, and perfect service in the calling where God had placed him, tending and keeping, according to God’s perfect plan.

 

Personal Reflection:

I sometimes lie in the bed at night, snuggled close to my husband.  He will be facing away from me (usually snoring!), and as I snuggle close, he has no idea of my thoughts regarding him and the prayers that I offer up to the Lord for him.  It brings sweetness to my heart and soul!  But sad to say, it has not always been that way.  I did not understand my husband as a man.

Everything about my husband was different from me. He didn’t think like me.  He didn’t act like me.  He didn’t react like me, and he certainly didn’t handle things like me.  How often I wondered what was wrong with this man.  In much frustration, I set about to change him!  But what I didn’t realize was that God had made him a MAN, and he acted like a man!

Then one day, the Lord brought a book across my path that described the differences between the male and the female, and the differences between God-given personalities and temperaments.  A very clear picture of the difference between my husband and myself came in to focus.  But the most important thing that I saw was that we were different by God’s design. God had made my husband a man, and He didn’t intend for my husband to be like me! As I came to this understanding, the Lord spoke to by heart saying, “Let David be David!”  And from the heart, I surrendered to that truth, and oh my, how things began to change in our marriage!

That was only one step in the many that would follow, but it sure was a major one.  I will never be a man, nor think like a man, nor act like a man, but the Lord has given me the understanding that He intends the man to be different from the woman, and very specifically, He intends my husband to be different from me!  So now, I snuggle close and honestly appreciate and am thankful for the qualities that I once strongly resented and complained about.  And as I snuggle close and thank the Lord for my husband, I also pray for him to fully be the man that the Lord designed him to be, fully walking in all that the Lord has for him to do!

 

So, Until Next Time:

Spend time meditating on the uniqueness of God’s creation of the man.

Ask God to help you put away negative thoughts, complaints, or belittling thoughts of men.

If you are married, carry these truths to prayer regarding your husband.

Let your husband be the man that God has created him to be.  (Hint: You cannot be God in his life.)

Through prayer, align your thoughts with truth!

Don’t give up! Continue in prayer until God changes YOU!

Every wise woman – will learn to respect God’s creation of the man!

 

For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

Nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

So are My ways higher than your ways,

And My thoughts than your thoughts.

Isaiah 55:8-9