S22P1 – Community with our kind

Gen 2:18
The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

Regardless of our individual callings from God, we are all called to community. At times we may desire to go off alone for one reason or another, to decompress or find relief from life’s frustrations. These times, however, are an exception. Here we read God’s own words on the matter, and He says that man is better when he is not alone. Man is better in community. But this idea of loneliness is interesting as God’s own presence existed in the Garden of Eden [Gen. 3:8]. If Adam could see or feel that God was with him in that place, why would God say that he was alone?

There are different kinds of companionship. God provides a companionship that no person can replicate or replace. He can be there for us in a way that no one else can. Despite this, God’s companionship is not the only fellowship He desires for us. God wanted Adam to have a companion of his own kind, one who was suitable for him. Eve provided a companionship that God could not, and it was a companionship necessary for Adam’s fulfillment in life. Not only that, Adam would not have been able to populate the earth on his own. He needed Eve. Even though Adam had God from the beginning, he was alone because he had no one of his own kind with whom to share life. He was designed to live and function better among companions of his own kind.

People provide a unique type of companionship that cannot be replaced by a pet or a robot or even God himself. God made us to be in community with one another because that is better than being alone. Although there are times when we might need our space and some quiet time alone, we were designed with community as a necessary component to our walking out our lives as God has designed. Father, plant in us the desire for fellowship and community with the brethren, knowing that we cannot live as You would have us to live without that connection to other people.