Eve as ezer kenegdo.  Not just “helper”, “helpmeet” or “companion,” but life saver.  How can we have missed this?  How can I have missed this? 

     The life God calls us to is not a safe life.  Just look at the friends of God in either Testament.  Why else would we need Him to be our ezer?  You don’t need a lifesaver if your mission in life is to be a potted plant.  You need an ezer when your life is in constant danger.  (Captivating, p. 32.)

     See why I find the average, run-of-the-mill, Home Depot approach to women’s ministries so…. Dry?  Boring?  Vapid, anemic, irrelevant?  (See part I)  “Helper” vs. life saver?  Are you kidding? 

     Look at Genesis 1:26, 27 again.  Both male and female were created in the image of God (male and female created he them). The Hebrew for image is TSELEM, which means "a phantom or resemblant likeness, a representative figure". The word was often used to refer to the image of something that came out of a mold: it was not the mold, but looked exactly like it. In other words, finite man was created in such a way as to reflect the infinite God, inasmuch as that is possible.  This means Adam and Eve.

     Yes!  You are the image bearer of the God who longs for relationships, who yearns to be your ezer; who reveals beauty as essential to life.  You are the image bearer of this magnificent, powerful, beautiful and tender God.  Do you long for these things, too?  Does your Heart resonant with the desire to be sought, pursued, and loved for who you are, “warts and all”?  Does your inner core long for intimate, deep relationships?  Not just the “Hi, how are ya, how’s the weather?’” kind of “skin deep,” superficial acquaintance that I find so unfulfilling and redundant.  But the kind of soul-deep, kindred spirit type of relationships where you can share and reveal your deepest heart honestly and openly without fear of rejection or ridicule.  The kind of relationship categorized by mutuality, responsiveness, genuine acceptance, consistent support, authenticity and Grace. 

     This longing in the heart of a Woman to share life on this level with another as part of a great dual adventure—doesn’t that desire come straight from the Heart of hearts, who also longs for this? 

     Do you see it now?  God doesn’t want to be an afterthought.  He doesn’t want to be an option in your life, a parachute you touch only “when all else fails.”  Our God is a relational God.  How He longs to have your entire heart and life.  Not just on Sunday morning.  Not just during morning devotions, mealtime grace or the latest personal crisis.  But deeply, profoundly, daily.  Moment by moment. 

     Do you yearn to be affirmed, appreciated, challenged, inspired, understood, nurtured and cherished?  Do you long to share your heart and life with another?  Do you see where this longing comes from?  Do you see how the Heart of a Woman is a unique and wondrous TSELEM of a deeply loving, longing, and relational God?