Contemplative Bible Reading

Genesis 2:18–20 (New Living Translation)

18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.” 19 So the Lord God formed from the ground all the wild animals and all the birds of the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would call them, and the man chose a name for each one. 20 He gave names to all the livestock, all the birds of the sky, and all the wild animals. But still there was no helper just right for him.

Here is a recording of a failure of God—in a sense, a failure.

God did not want Adam to be alone. Adam needed a “helper who is just right for him” (other translations use other words instead of “helper,” and that is a discussion for another day).

God created all the animals—quite a feat to do so in a way that the animals didn’t wipe out one another. God then brought all the animals to Adam for naming.

While doing so, God noticed that none of the creations were “just right for him.”

Hmmm, first try, none just right. Let’s try again, huh?

The second try produced Eve; perfection, wonderful perfection.

I suppose there are lessons here for us. Something about try something, learn, try something else. Patience. Perseverance. Things like that.

And maybe the lesson is that God moves in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform. Something about how I just don’t understand the ways of God, and that isn’t my job. Mine is to obey, awe, and love.