Good News Florida

)LUVW )ULGD\ RI HDFK PRQWK SP 6KDEEDW GLQQHU SP ZRUVKLS DQG WHDFKLQJ 2OG %R\QWRQ 5RDG %R\QWRQ %HDFK )/ )RU PRUH GHWDLOV SOHDVH FDOO RU HPDLO MIR[#FKRVHQSHRSOH FRP & +26(1 3 (23/( 0,1,675,(6 OLJKWRILVUDHOIO FRP FKRVHQSHRSOH FRP ¬ God said after the creation of Adam, “It is not good for man to be alone.” By divine design, we are created for relation- ships, with God and with oth- ers. One reason God’s law, the ten commandments, was given to us was to show us how to build a healthy relationship with God and others. A normal desire Being in relationships is a normal desire. However, rela- tionships do include risk, the risk of rejection, unmet expec- tations or betrayal to name a few. Aloneness can be a de- fense mechanism to the hurts of relationship. Once people have been wounded in a rela- tionship, they can isolate their self as protection from not being hurt again. People often isolate their self from God when they don’t like or understand what God is doing or allowing in their life. Like a small child they misinter- pret God’s feelings or actions toward them. The problem with the de- fense mechanism of aloneness is it dooms a person to a life that, “is not good,” for they are living contrary to God’s design – alone. Or at the least they live a life of superficial relationships driven by the fear of intimacy. We are created for intimacy with God and usually with at least one other person. Inti- macy is Adam and Eve in the garden, naked and unashamed before each other. We are fully revealed to an- other, nothing hidden, and still feel accepted and safe. To live without intimacy can be illus- trated by the words of an old Simon and Garfunkel song, “I am a rock, I am an island – the rock feels no pain and the is- land never cries.” If life is about relation- ships, what is a person to do? Risk the pain of potential be- trayal that comes with relation- ships or play it safe and be alone? The answer is found in starting an alone relationship with God. That is where the first man started because that was all he had: Adam alone with God each day in the cool of the garden. Adam wasn’t seeking another relationship. He was enjoying his relation- ship with God each day. God in his wisdom eventually brought a relationship to Adam. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t place yourself among people and put yourself out there for possible connections. It means to focus first on developing an intimate and enjoyable rela- tionship with God. Our relationship with God will prepare us for our relation- ships with others. God eventu- ally brought Eve into Adam’s life, and his life was richer for it. Eve didn’t compete with Adam’s God relationship but complemented it. Adam was a better husband to Eve because of his relationship with God. God then gave the two of them a life mission to fill the earth with other people who could be in relationship with each other and God. New families would be created who would live in harmony with God, one an- other and God’s creation. All of these relationships would be a source of physical and eternal life. As long asAdam cultivated his relationship with God, his relationship with Eve went well. The Paradox Of Aloneness John Hawkins, Sr. Gateway Counseling Center (Continued on page 42) Palm Beach County