Showing items filed under “Marc Stern”


Genesis 2:18 KJV - And the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.”

What exactly is a “help meet”?  Why did Adam need one?  I will address the later question first…why did Adam need a help meet.  The answer is quite simple.  It’s just how God sovereignly designed things.  There was intent and purpose in creation and Adam being “alone” or “all-one” or self-sufficient was not good for what God intended.  At face value, it’s not complicated.  Does it get complicated in a fallen world, YUP!  Are there a million questions that could follow, YUP!

Now back to the first question…what is a help meet.  It’s someone “suitable” for him or “fit” for him.  It’s someone “just right”.   I think of a “suit” that “fits” “just right”, because it’s tailor-made. A tailored suit is not too big, and it’s not too small.  It is uniquely designed just for how a particular person is built.  That person is measured, so that the suit and the person wearing the suit are one.  To me, that speaks to marriage.

Adam and Eve were made to be one.  That’s actually the first observation that Adam has when he sees the woman. “This is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh!”  But, what does that look like?  What we would love for it to mean is that we are one because we are the same.  Because we think the same, and we process things the same.  We want our spouse to see what we see, and agree with how we see it.  The problem is, when you look at the word “help meet”…that’s not exactly what it means. 

The word “help meet” can mean counterpart.  Someone who is similar or even  equal but opposite.  In other words, we fit together as one, BECAUSE we are different! We were intentionally made different.  God said (not really), “Adam let me help you bear fruit and fulfill your purpose…here’s contrast and diversity and difference!”  And here lies a big reason why marriages work, and it’s also the reason many marriages fail!  We see our counterpart as the enemy who is opposing us.  So we fight and we go to war against them, until someone wins and someone loses.

The real question we should be asking is how do we handle difference?  Do you truly and honestly see value in that which makes you suitable for each other…your differences?  My fear and experience is that most marriages simply tolerate difference, but not many value and respect it.

Lord, I thank you that through you my marriage can be all that you intended it to be.  Help me to see value in my spouse.  Help me to see them as you do.  Help us to be one, with the help of our differences, and not in spite of them.

In Christ’s Name, Amen


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I Samuel 1:1-2:21

In the first couple of chapters of I Samuel you have a unique scene.  You have Eli, the high priest, and his two sons Hophni and Phinehas serving as priest of the LORD.  Unfortunately, Hophni and Phinehas are serving in such a way that it is causing the people to “treat the offering of the LORD with contempt.”  During this same time Hannah is married to Elkanah, who has two wives, Hannah and Peninnah.  Hannah’s rival, Peninnah, has sons and daughters, but for whatever reason the LORD has shut Hannah’s womb.  And so year after year Peninnah torments Hannah, and year after year Hannah remains frustrated, and year after year the sons of Eli sin against the LORD, and year after year the people of God are impacted by this sin.  Both the house of the LORD and the house of Elkanah have a problem, and God is going to kill two birds with one stone.  Samuel will be that stone.  The birth of Samuel is going to be the answer to the problems of both houses.


This leads me to a thought!  Whether we realize it or not our lives are sovereignly intertwined.  They are connected with God’s plan for others all around us.  Our prayer life or lack of it has a ripple effect in ways that we may never see.  The son that Hannah desired would be the judge and prophet that Israel needed.  It appears that God opens Hannah’s womb at the moment she vows to surrender what she desires to what God desires.  In other words, it’s like God is saying or showing us that, I will give you what you want when what you want aligns with what I want.  Because, ultimately what God wants is what the world and the church needs most…His glory and His manifest Presence in our lives!


Lord, help me to align my will with your will, my desires with your desires, and my ways with your ways, so that I can be a vessel for your glory to be seen both in my life and in the life of others. 

In Christ’s Name



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