by Randy Schroeder
It is interesting that a person can be in a room of 200 people and still feel alone. I played in a golf tournament a few years ago with about that many people and I did not know a single person. It was a strange experience. Some people handle that situation with ease, but I think most of us struggle with the feeling of aloneness that gets stirred up. I wonder how many people visit churches like ours and feel the same thing.
It reminds me of the unique and powerful episode that took place in the garden for Adam. He was in a perfect environment. There was no sin nature involved so he had no struggle with the flesh like we do. He had a perfectly intimate relationship with God. He was given dominion over everything. What is not to love about that? But then God declares that something is not good. I wonder if that confused Adam and made him think, but God I am not alone. I have you.
God seems to be pulling back the curtain to reveal how he had created Adam;perfect but needy. He needed air, water, food, sleep. But he was also created to need not only a relationship with God but also a relationship with people. And it is significant that sin had not yet entered the picture.
For the first 10 years of my faith journey from age 20-30, I thought that the spiritual and Biblical approach that I should have, was to declare that God was all I needed. But God showed up and took me back to the garden and revealed to me how I was created; needy. God would be the ultimate supply for all my needs. But it would be more Biblical to say that I was created to need an intimate relationship with God and with people. That would lead me to say to my wife that I need you and I am ok with you needing me. But we will trust God as the supply and not take from each other. A little different from the message I actually gave her for the first 8 years of marriage which was, "if you are really walking well with God, he is all you will need." So, effectively I said, don't look to me for anything. That didn't work so well. Fortunately God redirected me.
More on this next week.