independence (pt 2): it wasn't in the plan.

An exciting, yet delayed second blog entry about independence has arrived.  I think I could even attribute the delay of this entry to my surrendering of independence.

I recently moved and now have a roommate.  She is a dear friend of mine and we have spent many hours already moving, organizing, sorting, and arranging.  Not to mention, talking, laughing, crying...yes...it's only been a week, and we've already been emotional.  We're girls.  It's what we do.

My roomie and I in Israel.  We be tough...and a little crazy.

With two strong women living together, the topic of independence has come up several times in our conversations.  This was one of the most recent thoughts passed around.

The creation story.  I'm amazed at how much it speaks to independence.  It wasn't in the plan.  God--a community by God's very nature, three persons--decided to bring humanity into being. 

"Then God said, 'Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness...'"
 
He breathed His own breath into Adam.  Adam was made dependent on God.  God gave Him land, plants, animals, breath, water.  Everything.  Not only did God provide Adam with all he needed, but God provided the systems that had needs.  He designed Adam in a way that He could care for Adam.  He designed Adam as one dependent on God.  It was a beautiful relationship.

Even so, God noticed something.

The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

We were made in the image of a communal God.  Even while Adam was in a perfect relationship with God, He called Adam being alone on the earth "not good"--the only "not good" thing on earth before the fall!  Loneliness isn't wrong.  We weren't made to be alone, but in community, BOTH with God and others.

We need community.  God says so.  Doing our own thing wasn't in the plan.  Then that whole fruit thing happened....yep...independence is enticing.  Eve wanted to be like God, not dependent upon God.  How often do we do the same thing?  It's a daily struggle to surrender to God's will which includes yielding to, working together with, and forgiving those that I'm in community with.  It is allowing myself to be "inconvenienced by community" because we weren't made to be alone.

Independence.  No matter how enticing, accept that this is not our best life.  It never has been and never will be in the plan.