In the beginning was God. He made the world, the sun, the moon, the plants, and the animals. Then he made man, in Genesis 2:7. Fifteen verses later He made woman. A lot happened in those fifteen verses. God made the garden of Eden and placed man inside. God gave man the instructions to work in it and keep it. God gave the command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God formed every beast and bird, and the man named them. That’s a lot of responsibility.
I can’t imagine having to name everything in the world. You can even tell when his creativity started running out. He starts strong with names like rhinoceros and hippopotamus. As he tires, he simplifies: bee, rat, dog, frog, hog. By the end, he’s just combining words he’s already used: cat-fish, bull-dog. (For the comedically challenged, all this is a joke. Adam did not speak English and did not use these names. At least, I’m fairly sure he didn’t. However, naming all the animals was still a monumental task. Think about how long it took you to name your dog and it’s name is just “Fluffy”.)
As men, we have read these commands and taken pride in all the responsibility God has placed on our shoulders. We are to take care of things. To be in charge. We even name things. But what I missed for many years is this: Even in the midst of God giving the man responsibility, the man was completely dependent. Adam wasn’t out there on his own being in charge of things. He was walking through the cool of the garden WITH God. He was in a moment by moment dependent relationship. Our leadership, our care, our responsibility stray far from the will of God the moment we attempt them outside of being completely dependent on Him. All of our care and responsibility is meant to be done under the precise guidance of God. We didn’t become dependent after the fall; we were created that way. It’s the perfect plan – complete dependence on God.
I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Todd
Very interesting Todd. God is now with the people of Haiti, Pakistan, India, Brazil, Australia, Africa, etc (during all of the flooding and devastation).
Complete dependence on God puts us in a very vulnerable and scary place because it’s the opposite reflex to the way we normally think. Instead of relying on our own intellect and resources that we can touch and define, we are asked to trust God whom we cannot see or define. We have ingested so much of Satan’s lie that God is not trustworthy that our created dependence on God has become independence from God and dependence on ourselves and others. Just a bit arrogant, isn’t it, that the creature forgets who made him and believes he knows more than his Creator? Sounds like teenagers who reject the wisdom and teaching of their parents. Complete dependence on God requires complete submission and child-like trust–turning us inside out and upside down, broken and bankrupt, until all we have left is God and all we can do is say “Help me!” Sad, isn’t it, that God originally gave us everything we needed to live and thrive and be totally satisfied in Him, but we threw that all away, thinking we were so smart with the mentality of a 2-year-old child who says “I can do it myself!” It is often through tragic and painful circumstances that our eyes are opened to our foolishness and our will is finally broken so we can be healed by His grace and the issue of dependency is settled . . . at least until the next time.
It took me a long time after reading the second paragraph to stop laughing and get serious and settle down and soak in the third paragraph! I love your sense of humor and I love the thought provoking things you say in the midst of being so funny. Thank you for the reminder that I can do NOTHING on my own but am totally dependent on our God!
This is awesome Todd and Brenda’s response is, as well!
Many don’t know how to let go and let God. Some only know how when they’ve hit rock bottom. It is a sad shame that as His children, many of us have to get to that rock bottom point and attitude that, “trusting God can’t make it any worse” before we actually do trust in Him. Actually, if we’d have been trusting and walking with Him in the first place, we wouldn’t be in that hopeless spot……
I actually find dependence on God very comforting. I know that I’ve made so many mistakes before I knew God (and I still do), but our loving Father doesn’t give up on us because He wants to guide us in all that we do. This is what helps me to feel peace, just knowing that I’m not alone in life’s decisions and responsibilities. There are times when there is still pain, fear and tears in my life, but comfort soon follows.
My son (10 yrs. old) still remembers when you talked about Adam and Eve in the garden, at a show, in Texarkana, I believe. You made a very positive impact on him and he continued to think of animal names. One such name he thought of was “butter – fly”, and this did get him to thinking about the task of naming all of the animals. Thanks for all that you do and have a blessed new year!
King David is certainly a good example of someone who realized the need for that dependence and sought God fully. He also came to understand the cost of straying from that dependence in tragic ways – timeless lessons as valuable today as thousands of years ago.
I think its very interesting that God created man to work and care for the earth. To the best of my knowledge Genesis 2:15 is the only place in the Bible which specifically states a reason for the creation of man. (Someone please correct me if I’m wrong about that).
Lately I’ve been thinking about the naming of the animals. I’ve also always assumed that meant giving names to the species (rhinoceros, dog, etc.) But in the perfection of pre-fall creation, when all creatures lived together in harmony (and didn’t kill or eat each other) how do we know that the “naming” wasn’t giving them personal names, like Spot, Fluffy, Bill or Todd? Maybe Adam “named” the animals like we would name pets or children. Just wondering…
Complete dependence upon God? Just like a child. We never stop being God’s child, even though we’re all grown up with lots of grown up responsibilities. It’s a humbling thing.
don’t forget the duck-billed platypus! Complete dependence on God, can’t happen without complete surrender to God – complete surrender to His will. So often, so many of us want to know God’s will but aren’t willing to surrender to it completely…yet. “God, tell my your will so I can decide what to do” that’s backwards. We surrender first, then we will know His will for us. It’s hard. I look forward to what you have to say next! Be well and be blessed.
It is interesting that you posted this today, and that Brenda and others wrote about trusting God. Earlier I started getting flustered by all of the tasks I thought I needed to do, and on top of it someone had made a mistake that threw off my plans and I started imaging how it could negatively affect my future. The word “TRUST” came to mind, and I realized I needed to take time and talk to God about what happened and all the pressures I felt. I remembered how God says, in Psalm 91:4, that He covers me with His wings, and holds me close to His side, and I don’t need to fret or worry. This blog and the comments line up perfectly with what it seems He has been speaking to me about today. Thank you.
Opps! I just realized this was posted yesterday! 🙂 Well, God knew I needed it today! 🙂
It is really awe inspiring and gives us a sense of freedom when we do submit to the realization of knowing the Father is right there taking care of our every need. He knows the number of hairs on our head (or lack thereof). The animals He created for Adam to name understand full well the care that God has taken to fulfill our every need with no thought or concern. How much better off we would all be if we could cast our every worry and care to Him. He created the stars in the sky with a grand precision and can certainly take care of my few needs if I will just trust Him to handle the difficult as well as the less difficult things in my life. If He could breathe his breath into me and bring me into existence, what concern do I have. He will supply my every need. Satan does give it his best shot to come between me and the Father but God is the victor of battles seen and unseen. All God asks of me is to be still and quiet and listen to his still small voice. He asks me to be obedient and trustworthy so that He can give me more important tasks as I grow. I can’t hear his footsteps in the garden anymore but I can still hear him call my name and know that he still seeks that same relationship we had in the beginning.
Our dependence and connection to God are clarified by Psalm 139.
Psalm 139 (New Living Translation)
Psalm 139
For the choir director: A psalm of David.
1 O Lord, you have examined my heart
and know everything about me.
2 You know when I sit down or stand up.
You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
3 You see me when I travel
and when I rest at home.
You know everything I do.
4 You know what I am going to say
even before I say it, Lord.
5 You go before me and follow me.
You place your hand of blessing on my head.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too great for me to understand!
7 I can never escape from your Spirit!
I can never get away from your presence!
8 If I go up to heaven, you are there;
if I go down to the grave,[a] you are there.
9 If I ride the wings of the morning,
if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
and your strength will support me.
11 I could ask the darkness to hide me
and the light around me to become night—
12 but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.
To you the night shines as bright as day.
Darkness and light are the same to you.
13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
16 You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed.
17 How precious are your thoughts about me,[b] O God.
They cannot be numbered!
18 I can’t even count them;
they outnumber the grains of sand!
And when I wake up,
you are still with me!
19 O God, if only you would destroy the wicked!
Get out of my life, you murderers!
20 They blaspheme you;
your enemies misuse your name.
21 O Lord, shouldn’t I hate those who hate you?
Shouldn’t I despise those who oppose you?
22 Yes, I hate them with total hatred,
for your enemies are my enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 Point out anything in me that offends you,
and lead me along the path of everlasting life. If we could grasp who we are to God dependence on him would be normal for us. Our world tells us the total opposite on a daily basis. Let us surround ourselves with people that help us grasp and sustain the truth that God loves us and wants us to be dependent on him. He knows us better than we do , we just need to submit to him.
I am in agreement with your perspective Todd. Man was created to be in fellowship with God, to be working (yes, work comes from God not the devil) for His glory and to be custodians of His property. God planted somewhere in our DNA his image, his character should I say. This is our uniqueness in all the universe; and He loves us even while we’ve betray him with our sin. The cross reconciled us to him and shows he has always loved us. Mind boggling.