Friendship in a Lonely WorldSample

Amazingly, after God put the first man, Adam, in the garden of Eden, where he had everything he could possibly need, God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him” (Gen. 2:18). So God created a woman with the rib from Adam’s side and named her Eve. Her beauty thrilled Adam and he found in her an answer to his loneliness. Friendship and relationship are the remedies for loneliness and isolation. And theirs was a rich, intimate friendship. Adam “knew” Eve. This word carries the idea of physical and emotional intimacy. God had provided a solution for the loneliness that threatened to occupy the garden. God intended for marriage to be like that: for husband and wife to fill each other’s lonely place.

You can watch a couple walking in the park and can almost tell if they are married or not. Something about their behavior . . . how they hold hands, how they walk in step with each other. There’s an unspoken union that is evident because they are one. When Vera Mae and I got married, I was enthralled with her beauty. To think that she was now a part of me! I would never be alone again. And for these past sixty-nine years, this has been one of my greatest treasures. We have been one.

There was a unique friendship and love between Adam and Eve, and also with God. I believe that God visited them every day in the garden because they were friends. Just the thought of being able to have that kind of relationship with God excited me. I could almost feel the hole in my heart beginning to fill up—could I ever be friends with this God?

The tranquil friendship in the garden was cut short because Adam and Eve broke the rules. And broke the heart of God. The one tree that God told them not to eat of—the tree of the knowledge of good and evil—was too tempting. They disobeyed God; and suddenly shame entered that place of intimacy, love, and friendship. He removed them from the garden, and it could have all ended there. But God made it clear—even before they left the garden for the last time—that He was not going to give up on intimate friendship and loving relationship with mankind. 

So I kept reading and reading and at the end of it all there’s talk about a new heaven and a new earth. And there’s a picture of this same God enjoying eternal friendship and relationship with everyone who chooses to be His friend. This is friendship at the soul level! Without it, we are left with a gaping wound in our souls. It’s a hole that loneliness and anger fill up and seep out of.