It’s Adam and Eve, not Adam then Eve
21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
23 The man said,
“This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’
for she was taken out of man.”
In light of Valentine’s Day, I’ve been thinking more and more about all of the toxic lovers I see out there. When I sat down to write this I couldn’t decide if I wanted to write about a healthy relationship or a toxic one . It’s much more difficult to describe a healthy relationship than a toxic one but then this verse popped in my head.
When God created us, he did so with the intention of us becoming one. This means helping each other in our own divine ways. There’s a beautiful quote by Matthew Henry, a minister from long ago.
“Eve was not taken out of Adam's head to top him, neither out of his feet to be trampled on by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected by him, and near his heart to be loved by him.”
Of course, God can describe a healthy relationship better than I ever could.
But I can tell you how it should feel:
Warm
Like coming home
Safe
Peaceful
Steady and reliable
There’s new research showing that women in healthy relationships tend to feel sleepy around their partners because their levels of particular endorphins are so low since they feel at peace.
Despite being a chronic type A overachieving go-getter most of my life, my boyfriend jokes that I have chronic fatigue syndrome since that’s how I present with him. In the rest of my life, I take charge, I’m headstrong and driven, but when I’m with him I am so relaxed and I can finally turn it al off.
If nothing else, I want you to know that relationships were supposed to be working together (labor), enjoying all of the world God gave us (leisure), and being (loving) together in partnership and unity.
