Post by livinganewlife on Jan 7, 2009 11:30:29 GMT -5
This is an E- Message sent to me by one of my friends and as I read it I thought this would be something good to discuss on the Singles BB.....ENJOY
Ribless: A Message for All Single Women (Especially the Impatient Ones!)
Ribless
Then the Lord God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is right for him.'
From the ground God formed every wild animal and every bird in the sky, and he brought them to the man so the man could name them. Whatever the man called each living thing, that became its name. The man gave names to all the tame animals, to the birds in the sky, and to all the wild animals. But Adam did not find a helper that was right for him. So the Lord God caused the man to sleep very deeply, and while he was asleep, God removed one of the man's ribs. Then God closed up the man's skin at the place where he took the rib. The Lord God used the rib from the man to make a woman, and then he brought the woman to the man.
And the man said, 'Now, this is someone whose bones came from my bones, whose body came from my body. I will call her 'woman,' because she was taken out of man.'
So a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two will become one body. The man and his wife were naked, but they were not ashamed.---Genesis 2:18-25 (NCV)
One of the best hearing aides a man can have is an attentive wife.---Groucho Marx
Ooo, it's a labor of love this morning, ya'll. A moment ago, as I was laying in my bed praying for the folks on my list, when the single men of the world came up, I found myself saying to God, I mean, really. What is their deal, anyway?
The response I received is what caused me to leap out of my bed, run down the stairs and hop onto this thing: You try living your life without a rib. It's not very comfortable.
Did you get it? LADIES, PLEASE TELL ME THAT YOU GOT IT!
A few months ago, God gave me a devotional message entitled, The God Gossip Game. Long story short, it was basically about all of the things we've been taught to believe is biblically-based but either isn't, or is taken out of context. One of my all-time favorites:
He who finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor from the Lord.---Proverbs 18:22 (NKJV)
Whew! I mean an ENTIRE COURTSHIP MOVEMENT has been based on this one verse. I've shared before that when you look up the word find, you just might be surprised you what you see:
Find: to come upon by chance; meet with; to locate, attain, or obtain by search or effort; to locate or recover (something lost or misplaced); to discover or perceive after consideration; to gain or regain the use of; to become aware of
Is it just me or is that a whole lotta ways to find someone? The fact that virtually every woman I know has come to the conclusion that this means (and only means) that a man must full on pursue her in order to have her is beyond me. However, if you are one of those women, that's on you. I just got free from being narrow-minded (Living on the Corner of 'Self' and 'Me') and so I ain't tryin' to limit how God's gonna orchestrate the perfect will mate for me revelation. Besides...he already showed me how, in his perfect will, he operates. Find wasn't the operative word, either...BROUGHT was.
Brought: to cause to come to or toward oneself; attract; to cause to occur or exist; to cause to come into a particular position, state, or effect; to cause to appear or occur in the mind; evoke or recall
Genesis 2:22 says that after God used Adam's rib to make the Woman, he then BROUGHT her to Adam...caused her to come to...caused her to exist...caused her to come to a particular position...caused her to occur in the mind. Adam didn't do that. GOD DID.
Again, I got freed up from the whole chase me down to get me mentality quite some time ago. No, what blew my mind tonight was what God said about Adam and his rib.
Several years ago, one of my favorite singers (shout out to Duawne Starling) and his cousin (shout out to Tiffany Palmer) recorded a song (co-written by Hallerin Hill) for their friend, Joey Kibble's wedding. It was called, Answered Prayer and Duawne's verse said (forgive me if it's not verbatim):
So he placed me to sleep, then he reached inside me
He knew what I would need when he placed you beside me
And when I saw your face, glowing with God's grace
I knew that I had seen what Adam saw in Eve
You are my answered prayer
You're everything that was not there
You are my answered prayer
I mean, maybe I'm missing something, but that doesn't sound like any pursuing was going on. That sounds more like a surgical procedure! And here's where the God loves us just this much to share something like this to his queens-in training revelation comes in. (I Peter 5:6-7)
If you go by the biblical account of the first woman, there are a couple of things that you must catch. God first decided that it was not good for man to be alone and therefore purposed in his mind to make a helper who was RIGHT (not good, but RIGHT) for Adam.
Right: in accordance with what is good, proper, or just; in conformity with fact, reason, truth, or some standard or principle; correct; fitting or appropriate; suitable; in good order; in good health or spirits; sound, sane, or normal; socially approved, desirable, or influential; straight (ha!)
I won't even get into how many people have settled for good (permissive will) rather than right (perfect will). Don't believe it happens? Oh, the Bible is chocked full of 'em. Just ask Jacob (Genesis 29)...King Xerxes (Esther 1)...King Solomon (I Kings 11)! Moving on...
So yes, first God declared that it was time for Adam to have some help. Then, as Adam was in his purpose, he realized something similar: that everyone had a companion who was RIGHT for them, but him. OK, but no where does it say that he then asked God to make him a mate. It just says that some time after he made a mental note, God put him to sleep...a very deep sleep.
Sleep: to take the rest afforded by a suspension of voluntary bodily functions and the natural suspension, complete or partial, of consciousness; cease being awake; to be dormant, quiescent, or inactive, as faculties; to be careless or unalert; allow one's alertness, vigilance, or attentiveness to lie dormant
OK...let's go deeper.
Genesis 2:21 says that while Adam was completely or partially unconscious...dormant...inactive...with his alertness, vigilance and attentiveness lying in dormant (hope you caught that) that GOD REMOVED ONE OF HIS RIBS.
Ribs: one of a series of curved bones that are articulated with the vertebrae and occur in pairs, 12 in humans, on each side of the vertebrate body, certain pairs being connected with the sternum and forming the thoracic wall; A part or piece similar to a rib and serving to shape or support
Let the fun begin!!!
Now, did you catch in the scriptures that it never says which rib God took. He knows the numbers of hairs on our heads (Matthew 10:20), so he could have very easily said it...if he wanted to. I have often heard the romantic spin that a rib was taken that covered Adam's heart...but the truth (John 8:32) is, how do we know that? After a little recall of my high school anatomy class and a quick Internet check for back-up, I discovered that the rib cage covers all vital organs: the heart, the lungs, liver and spleen. Also, the ribs support the spine. (Hmm, so spineless man may just be a ribless one, huh?) One article said that without the ribs, one would not be able to breathe properly or function with any real level of stability. Oh, and I just loved this part:
Your ribs form a protective cage that encloses many of your delicate internal organs. Your rib bones themselves are quite fragile and are easily broken in an accident or even by a violent sneeze. A fractured rib is very painful. A completely broken can be dangerous, as it could puncture the heart or lungs.---BBC Science and Nature, Human Body and Mind, Skeleton Layer
(OK, so if there are married people, especially married men checking this out, I hope you caught all of that in bold. No wonder the Word says, So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. (Ephesians 5:28) Not taking care of your rib may not only prove to be painful for you, but could prove to be dangerous, too. [I'll leave that right there!])
God could have pulled a rib from around Adam's heart. Yes, the heart is the chambered muscular organ in vertebrates that pumps blood received from the veins into the arteries, thereby maintaining the flow of blood through the entire circulatory system, but it is also the vital center and source of one's being, emotions, and sensibilities...the repository of one's deepest and sincerest feelings and beliefs...the emotional constitution, basic disposition, or character of a person.
On the other hand, God could have pulled a rib from around Adam's lungs. The lungs are either of two spongy organs in the chest of air-breathing vertebrate animals that serve as the organs of gas exchange. Blood flowing through the lungs picks up oxygen from inhaled air and releases carbon dioxide, which is exhaled. Air enters and leaves the lungs through the bronchial tubes. (Hmph, maybe the love songs are right. Maybe some dudes can't breathe without their wives...metaphorically speaking, of course.)
Or, he could have pulled a rib from the area around Adam's liver and spleen. The liver is large and complicated reddish-brown glandular organ located in the upper right portion of the abdominal cavity; secretes bile and functions in metabolism of protein and carbohydrate and fat; synthesizes substances involved in the clotting of the blood; synthesizes vitamin A; detoxifies poisonous substances and breaks down worn-out erythrocytes. And the spleen? Well...well...well. It's a highly vascular, glandular, ductless organ, situated in humans at the cardiac end of the stomach, serving chiefly in the formation of mature lymphocytes, in the destruction of worn-out red blood cells, and as a reservoir for blood and this organ conceived of as the seat of spirit and courage or of such emotions as mirth, ill humor, melancholy, etc.
Bottom line, RIBS ARE VITALLY NECESSARY. After reading all of this, I then did a quick study on what happens to someone when they break a rib (it was hard to find what happens when you are born without one so work with me a little here):
What happens when you break a rib?
Your ribs have two main jobs:
· They protect the organs in your chest.
· They help you breathe by keeping space open inside your chest while the muscles you use to breathe squeeze in, or contract. This leaves plenty of space for your lungs to fill up with air.
The muscles used for breathing pull on the ribs, so breathing may be very painful when you have a fractured rib.
What are the symptoms?
A fractured rib may cause:
· Mild to severe pain in the injured area.
· Pain when you breathe.
· Pain around the fracture when someone pushes on your breastbone.
If you can't breathe normally because of pain or flail chest, you may:
· Feel short of breath.
· Feel anxious, restless, or scared.
· Have a headache.
· Feel dizzy, tired, or sleepy.
After sitting and processing a bit, you might be surprised by the emotion that came over me. For years, for various reasons, I have found myself irritated, offended, disgusted, and/or down right fed up with single men wondering when they were going to get their act together for my sake and the sake of all sistahs desiring a mate worldwide. But right now, at this very moment, I feel nothing but compassion. If a man has been called to be single (Matthew 19 [Message], I Corinthians 7) that is one thing (I'm assuming there would be no rib removal for him). But if it is a part of God's will (and his desire) to be married, there comes a time after he's begun operating in his purpose, God has made a declaration that he needs some help to get to the next level (cause you know wives are where at lot of favor comes from, fellas) and he has noticed that something is not quite RIGHT, that a change comes.
Now I've not heard of any recorded cases of God putting any other man into a state of physical sleep, removing a rib and making a woman, but I do believe that in the spirit realm, something very similar happens every time a perfect will relationship comes into fruition. I do believe that God is a God of order (I Corinthians 14:40) and so a man will be given a purpose, first...God will decide it's not good for him to be alone, second...and man may start to take note of the fact that something doesn't seem quite right in his life, third.
But you know what? I also believe that there will be a season when God puts him to sleep...has him in an unconscious state so that he is not focused on what God is doing in the spirit realm. (Some of you all are wanting a man to pursue you and guess what? He's actually on his post...he's sleep!) When someone is not conscious, it doesn't matter how fine, how sweet, how saved you are. He doesn't see you, honey. He's knocked out. He's on a spiritual sedative that God prescribed.
But, because we are looking at this from a flesh and not spirit perspective (Galatians 5:16-17), it can be easy to miss that just because he is unconscious to what God is doing, that doesn't mean that God isn't doing something. Right now, I believe that God has taken some ribs out of men. However, we as women are so busy looking at things in the physical realm...walking by sight rather than faith (the exact opposite of what we're supposed to be doing---2 Corinthians 5:7), that we're not seeing a lot of actions for what they really are. In other words, some men's emotional states seem out of whack...the oxygen level to their brains, to us may seem a little low...they seem to be lacking a level of spirit and courage that we desire, but it's not because it's not there...it's because they are vulnerable right now...THEY HAVE A RIB MISSING.
Now God ain't gonna put his kings-in-preparation on blast. Do you see in verse 21 how it says that after he took the rib, he closed up the man's skin? Not everyone needs to see that he has a hole where something, his helpmate, needs to be. But I'll tell you what, in the wee hours of this morning (Psalm 199:147), I believe that God spoke a special thing to me: that I didn't need to focus so much on him, but on which rib I am...where God took me from to fashion me into the helpmate that my currently unconscious mate needs; to cover up where he is vulnerable (Proverbs 10:12)...that I need to chill out and let God bring me...when he thinks the time is right. (Acts 1:7---Message)
Now, do you see how it never tells us what God did to make the woman? It just says that he did. I will take the liberty to believe that it wasn't just about creating lips, hips and fingertips (after all, God is a spirit and so I'm sure flesh is like...icing on the cake to him), but explaining to her the role that she had, the needs of her mate, the purpose God had for them as one flesh (substance; reality). I mean, you see that when God brought the Woman to Adam, there was no documentation of her doing any of the talking, right?
I remember when one of my friends got married. She said that her husband was crying the entire ceremony, but she was just standing there smiling. What did I need to cry about? she asked. God told me I was his wife years ago. This did not come as a surprise to me. (LOVE IT!)
Hmm...now that I think about it, this may be another God Gossip Game that should be reevaluated. Since God brought the Woman to Adam, that would give us the indication that she quite possibly knew her purpose before he did. God obviously revealed it, but it would appear that she knew it. (And what are a lot of us told? That the man will know, first? Umm...OK)
Now once she arrived, with God's assistance and blessing, it wasn't the Woman who made a declaration of her purpose. IT WAS ADAM. However, what I also love about this story is that at that time, Adam knew who she was. WHEN GOD BROUGHT HER TO HIM, HE KNEW HER...HER ROLE...HER POSITION...HER PURPOSE...AND THE VOID THAT SHE FILLED IN HIS LIFE. He knew she came from his bones...from his body...that she was a part of him. It was only then that man was given the instruction to leave his father and mother, be united with this wife and become one body with his God-ordained companion (we'll have to get into it another time how she came from his body and yet sex is what made them one body). It was only then that they were naked and not ashamed.
I was recently reading that in the Jewish culture an unmarried person is considered half a person, the wedding day is seen to be the beginning of a new life as a complete soul for both the bride (Kallah) and groom (Choson). Yes, I believe that you should be a whole person before marriage in the sense of being holistically healthy, but I believe the context in which they are referring is becoming complete. What we are created for, it's in doing those things that we become complete.
What God has just revealed to me is that for far too long, I have been focused on the wrong things. An unconscious man has nothing to do with me. What can he do? HE'S UNCONSCIOUS. If I want to pray for anything, I need to pray to spiritually discern what tempts me to pre-judge. I would never get angry with someone with a broken bone...something is missing. Of course they wouldn't be acting like they are in perfect condition until the bone has healed. In the spiritual sense, I realize this is what God has shared with me this morning. That a lot of these men out here are not malicious, they are just ribless; that I should pray that they remain in God's will so that he can finish the surgical procedure of creating their companions ('cause you know some people do try to fight going under anesthesia!) and bringing their queens to them. And, as for me, that if he doesn't see me yet, it's because God still has work to do...and that when it is time, I will know...I will be brought to him. Then my Adam will know it and praise God for it, recognizing that I fill a part of him that's been missing...a place where he needs solid support...something he may not have even realized until he comes to a spiritually conscious state.
Ladies, this is not a time to hate on the brothas. Let's love on them (not enable, but love). What is it that I Corinthians 2:14 (NKJV) says?
But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
Marriage is a spiritual union. It is spiritually discerned. You wanna get a greater insight, get out of the physical (that would include your senses) and into the spirit realm.
Don't worry about your Adam. You just concern yourself with getting ready for him.
So that when you're brought...when he sees you, you will be worthy of the praise. You will be just what he needs---the covering of the place where his rib, whatever and wherever that rib may be, was taken.
You will be just what THE DOCTOR (of all doctors) ordered to restore him to complete spiritual health.
Shellie R. Warren/2008
Ribless: A Message for All Single Women (Especially the Impatient Ones!)
Ribless
Then the Lord God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is right for him.'
From the ground God formed every wild animal and every bird in the sky, and he brought them to the man so the man could name them. Whatever the man called each living thing, that became its name. The man gave names to all the tame animals, to the birds in the sky, and to all the wild animals. But Adam did not find a helper that was right for him. So the Lord God caused the man to sleep very deeply, and while he was asleep, God removed one of the man's ribs. Then God closed up the man's skin at the place where he took the rib. The Lord God used the rib from the man to make a woman, and then he brought the woman to the man.
And the man said, 'Now, this is someone whose bones came from my bones, whose body came from my body. I will call her 'woman,' because she was taken out of man.'
So a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two will become one body. The man and his wife were naked, but they were not ashamed.---Genesis 2:18-25 (NCV)
One of the best hearing aides a man can have is an attentive wife.---Groucho Marx
Ooo, it's a labor of love this morning, ya'll. A moment ago, as I was laying in my bed praying for the folks on my list, when the single men of the world came up, I found myself saying to God, I mean, really. What is their deal, anyway?
The response I received is what caused me to leap out of my bed, run down the stairs and hop onto this thing: You try living your life without a rib. It's not very comfortable.
Did you get it? LADIES, PLEASE TELL ME THAT YOU GOT IT!
A few months ago, God gave me a devotional message entitled, The God Gossip Game. Long story short, it was basically about all of the things we've been taught to believe is biblically-based but either isn't, or is taken out of context. One of my all-time favorites:
He who finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor from the Lord.---Proverbs 18:22 (NKJV)
Whew! I mean an ENTIRE COURTSHIP MOVEMENT has been based on this one verse. I've shared before that when you look up the word find, you just might be surprised you what you see:
Find: to come upon by chance; meet with; to locate, attain, or obtain by search or effort; to locate or recover (something lost or misplaced); to discover or perceive after consideration; to gain or regain the use of; to become aware of
Is it just me or is that a whole lotta ways to find someone? The fact that virtually every woman I know has come to the conclusion that this means (and only means) that a man must full on pursue her in order to have her is beyond me. However, if you are one of those women, that's on you. I just got free from being narrow-minded (Living on the Corner of 'Self' and 'Me') and so I ain't tryin' to limit how God's gonna orchestrate the perfect will mate for me revelation. Besides...he already showed me how, in his perfect will, he operates. Find wasn't the operative word, either...BROUGHT was.
Brought: to cause to come to or toward oneself; attract; to cause to occur or exist; to cause to come into a particular position, state, or effect; to cause to appear or occur in the mind; evoke or recall
Genesis 2:22 says that after God used Adam's rib to make the Woman, he then BROUGHT her to Adam...caused her to come to...caused her to exist...caused her to come to a particular position...caused her to occur in the mind. Adam didn't do that. GOD DID.
Again, I got freed up from the whole chase me down to get me mentality quite some time ago. No, what blew my mind tonight was what God said about Adam and his rib.
Several years ago, one of my favorite singers (shout out to Duawne Starling) and his cousin (shout out to Tiffany Palmer) recorded a song (co-written by Hallerin Hill) for their friend, Joey Kibble's wedding. It was called, Answered Prayer and Duawne's verse said (forgive me if it's not verbatim):
So he placed me to sleep, then he reached inside me
He knew what I would need when he placed you beside me
And when I saw your face, glowing with God's grace
I knew that I had seen what Adam saw in Eve
You are my answered prayer
You're everything that was not there
You are my answered prayer
I mean, maybe I'm missing something, but that doesn't sound like any pursuing was going on. That sounds more like a surgical procedure! And here's where the God loves us just this much to share something like this to his queens-in training revelation comes in. (I Peter 5:6-7)
If you go by the biblical account of the first woman, there are a couple of things that you must catch. God first decided that it was not good for man to be alone and therefore purposed in his mind to make a helper who was RIGHT (not good, but RIGHT) for Adam.
Right: in accordance with what is good, proper, or just; in conformity with fact, reason, truth, or some standard or principle; correct; fitting or appropriate; suitable; in good order; in good health or spirits; sound, sane, or normal; socially approved, desirable, or influential; straight (ha!)
I won't even get into how many people have settled for good (permissive will) rather than right (perfect will). Don't believe it happens? Oh, the Bible is chocked full of 'em. Just ask Jacob (Genesis 29)...King Xerxes (Esther 1)...King Solomon (I Kings 11)! Moving on...
So yes, first God declared that it was time for Adam to have some help. Then, as Adam was in his purpose, he realized something similar: that everyone had a companion who was RIGHT for them, but him. OK, but no where does it say that he then asked God to make him a mate. It just says that some time after he made a mental note, God put him to sleep...a very deep sleep.
Sleep: to take the rest afforded by a suspension of voluntary bodily functions and the natural suspension, complete or partial, of consciousness; cease being awake; to be dormant, quiescent, or inactive, as faculties; to be careless or unalert; allow one's alertness, vigilance, or attentiveness to lie dormant
OK...let's go deeper.
Genesis 2:21 says that while Adam was completely or partially unconscious...dormant...inactive...with his alertness, vigilance and attentiveness lying in dormant (hope you caught that) that GOD REMOVED ONE OF HIS RIBS.
Ribs: one of a series of curved bones that are articulated with the vertebrae and occur in pairs, 12 in humans, on each side of the vertebrate body, certain pairs being connected with the sternum and forming the thoracic wall; A part or piece similar to a rib and serving to shape or support
Let the fun begin!!!
Now, did you catch in the scriptures that it never says which rib God took. He knows the numbers of hairs on our heads (Matthew 10:20), so he could have very easily said it...if he wanted to. I have often heard the romantic spin that a rib was taken that covered Adam's heart...but the truth (John 8:32) is, how do we know that? After a little recall of my high school anatomy class and a quick Internet check for back-up, I discovered that the rib cage covers all vital organs: the heart, the lungs, liver and spleen. Also, the ribs support the spine. (Hmm, so spineless man may just be a ribless one, huh?) One article said that without the ribs, one would not be able to breathe properly or function with any real level of stability. Oh, and I just loved this part:
Your ribs form a protective cage that encloses many of your delicate internal organs. Your rib bones themselves are quite fragile and are easily broken in an accident or even by a violent sneeze. A fractured rib is very painful. A completely broken can be dangerous, as it could puncture the heart or lungs.---BBC Science and Nature, Human Body and Mind, Skeleton Layer
(OK, so if there are married people, especially married men checking this out, I hope you caught all of that in bold. No wonder the Word says, So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. (Ephesians 5:28) Not taking care of your rib may not only prove to be painful for you, but could prove to be dangerous, too. [I'll leave that right there!])
God could have pulled a rib from around Adam's heart. Yes, the heart is the chambered muscular organ in vertebrates that pumps blood received from the veins into the arteries, thereby maintaining the flow of blood through the entire circulatory system, but it is also the vital center and source of one's being, emotions, and sensibilities...the repository of one's deepest and sincerest feelings and beliefs...the emotional constitution, basic disposition, or character of a person.
On the other hand, God could have pulled a rib from around Adam's lungs. The lungs are either of two spongy organs in the chest of air-breathing vertebrate animals that serve as the organs of gas exchange. Blood flowing through the lungs picks up oxygen from inhaled air and releases carbon dioxide, which is exhaled. Air enters and leaves the lungs through the bronchial tubes. (Hmph, maybe the love songs are right. Maybe some dudes can't breathe without their wives...metaphorically speaking, of course.)
Or, he could have pulled a rib from the area around Adam's liver and spleen. The liver is large and complicated reddish-brown glandular organ located in the upper right portion of the abdominal cavity; secretes bile and functions in metabolism of protein and carbohydrate and fat; synthesizes substances involved in the clotting of the blood; synthesizes vitamin A; detoxifies poisonous substances and breaks down worn-out erythrocytes. And the spleen? Well...well...well. It's a highly vascular, glandular, ductless organ, situated in humans at the cardiac end of the stomach, serving chiefly in the formation of mature lymphocytes, in the destruction of worn-out red blood cells, and as a reservoir for blood and this organ conceived of as the seat of spirit and courage or of such emotions as mirth, ill humor, melancholy, etc.
Bottom line, RIBS ARE VITALLY NECESSARY. After reading all of this, I then did a quick study on what happens to someone when they break a rib (it was hard to find what happens when you are born without one so work with me a little here):
What happens when you break a rib?
Your ribs have two main jobs:
· They protect the organs in your chest.
· They help you breathe by keeping space open inside your chest while the muscles you use to breathe squeeze in, or contract. This leaves plenty of space for your lungs to fill up with air.
The muscles used for breathing pull on the ribs, so breathing may be very painful when you have a fractured rib.
What are the symptoms?
A fractured rib may cause:
· Mild to severe pain in the injured area.
· Pain when you breathe.
· Pain around the fracture when someone pushes on your breastbone.
If you can't breathe normally because of pain or flail chest, you may:
· Feel short of breath.
· Feel anxious, restless, or scared.
· Have a headache.
· Feel dizzy, tired, or sleepy.
After sitting and processing a bit, you might be surprised by the emotion that came over me. For years, for various reasons, I have found myself irritated, offended, disgusted, and/or down right fed up with single men wondering when they were going to get their act together for my sake and the sake of all sistahs desiring a mate worldwide. But right now, at this very moment, I feel nothing but compassion. If a man has been called to be single (Matthew 19 [Message], I Corinthians 7) that is one thing (I'm assuming there would be no rib removal for him). But if it is a part of God's will (and his desire) to be married, there comes a time after he's begun operating in his purpose, God has made a declaration that he needs some help to get to the next level (cause you know wives are where at lot of favor comes from, fellas) and he has noticed that something is not quite RIGHT, that a change comes.
Now I've not heard of any recorded cases of God putting any other man into a state of physical sleep, removing a rib and making a woman, but I do believe that in the spirit realm, something very similar happens every time a perfect will relationship comes into fruition. I do believe that God is a God of order (I Corinthians 14:40) and so a man will be given a purpose, first...God will decide it's not good for him to be alone, second...and man may start to take note of the fact that something doesn't seem quite right in his life, third.
But you know what? I also believe that there will be a season when God puts him to sleep...has him in an unconscious state so that he is not focused on what God is doing in the spirit realm. (Some of you all are wanting a man to pursue you and guess what? He's actually on his post...he's sleep!) When someone is not conscious, it doesn't matter how fine, how sweet, how saved you are. He doesn't see you, honey. He's knocked out. He's on a spiritual sedative that God prescribed.
But, because we are looking at this from a flesh and not spirit perspective (Galatians 5:16-17), it can be easy to miss that just because he is unconscious to what God is doing, that doesn't mean that God isn't doing something. Right now, I believe that God has taken some ribs out of men. However, we as women are so busy looking at things in the physical realm...walking by sight rather than faith (the exact opposite of what we're supposed to be doing---2 Corinthians 5:7), that we're not seeing a lot of actions for what they really are. In other words, some men's emotional states seem out of whack...the oxygen level to their brains, to us may seem a little low...they seem to be lacking a level of spirit and courage that we desire, but it's not because it's not there...it's because they are vulnerable right now...THEY HAVE A RIB MISSING.
Now God ain't gonna put his kings-in-preparation on blast. Do you see in verse 21 how it says that after he took the rib, he closed up the man's skin? Not everyone needs to see that he has a hole where something, his helpmate, needs to be. But I'll tell you what, in the wee hours of this morning (Psalm 199:147), I believe that God spoke a special thing to me: that I didn't need to focus so much on him, but on which rib I am...where God took me from to fashion me into the helpmate that my currently unconscious mate needs; to cover up where he is vulnerable (Proverbs 10:12)...that I need to chill out and let God bring me...when he thinks the time is right. (Acts 1:7---Message)
Now, do you see how it never tells us what God did to make the woman? It just says that he did. I will take the liberty to believe that it wasn't just about creating lips, hips and fingertips (after all, God is a spirit and so I'm sure flesh is like...icing on the cake to him), but explaining to her the role that she had, the needs of her mate, the purpose God had for them as one flesh (substance; reality). I mean, you see that when God brought the Woman to Adam, there was no documentation of her doing any of the talking, right?
I remember when one of my friends got married. She said that her husband was crying the entire ceremony, but she was just standing there smiling. What did I need to cry about? she asked. God told me I was his wife years ago. This did not come as a surprise to me. (LOVE IT!)
Hmm...now that I think about it, this may be another God Gossip Game that should be reevaluated. Since God brought the Woman to Adam, that would give us the indication that she quite possibly knew her purpose before he did. God obviously revealed it, but it would appear that she knew it. (And what are a lot of us told? That the man will know, first? Umm...OK)
Now once she arrived, with God's assistance and blessing, it wasn't the Woman who made a declaration of her purpose. IT WAS ADAM. However, what I also love about this story is that at that time, Adam knew who she was. WHEN GOD BROUGHT HER TO HIM, HE KNEW HER...HER ROLE...HER POSITION...HER PURPOSE...AND THE VOID THAT SHE FILLED IN HIS LIFE. He knew she came from his bones...from his body...that she was a part of him. It was only then that man was given the instruction to leave his father and mother, be united with this wife and become one body with his God-ordained companion (we'll have to get into it another time how she came from his body and yet sex is what made them one body). It was only then that they were naked and not ashamed.
I was recently reading that in the Jewish culture an unmarried person is considered half a person, the wedding day is seen to be the beginning of a new life as a complete soul for both the bride (Kallah) and groom (Choson). Yes, I believe that you should be a whole person before marriage in the sense of being holistically healthy, but I believe the context in which they are referring is becoming complete. What we are created for, it's in doing those things that we become complete.
What God has just revealed to me is that for far too long, I have been focused on the wrong things. An unconscious man has nothing to do with me. What can he do? HE'S UNCONSCIOUS. If I want to pray for anything, I need to pray to spiritually discern what tempts me to pre-judge. I would never get angry with someone with a broken bone...something is missing. Of course they wouldn't be acting like they are in perfect condition until the bone has healed. In the spiritual sense, I realize this is what God has shared with me this morning. That a lot of these men out here are not malicious, they are just ribless; that I should pray that they remain in God's will so that he can finish the surgical procedure of creating their companions ('cause you know some people do try to fight going under anesthesia!) and bringing their queens to them. And, as for me, that if he doesn't see me yet, it's because God still has work to do...and that when it is time, I will know...I will be brought to him. Then my Adam will know it and praise God for it, recognizing that I fill a part of him that's been missing...a place where he needs solid support...something he may not have even realized until he comes to a spiritually conscious state.
Ladies, this is not a time to hate on the brothas. Let's love on them (not enable, but love). What is it that I Corinthians 2:14 (NKJV) says?
But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
Marriage is a spiritual union. It is spiritually discerned. You wanna get a greater insight, get out of the physical (that would include your senses) and into the spirit realm.
Don't worry about your Adam. You just concern yourself with getting ready for him.
So that when you're brought...when he sees you, you will be worthy of the praise. You will be just what he needs---the covering of the place where his rib, whatever and wherever that rib may be, was taken.
You will be just what THE DOCTOR (of all doctors) ordered to restore him to complete spiritual health.
Shellie R. Warren/2008