And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
(Gen. 2:18)
This phrase "help meet" tells us a few things about a woman's responsibilities. Both words "help" and "meet" in this verse are from the Hebrew word which means "aid."

God was saying, "It's not good for man to be alone, so I will make an aid for him."

It isn't good for man to be alone; he needs a woman—but only one woman. Notice God didn't say that He would make "helps"—plural—for man and that all of them would be adaptable and suitable for him. It was never God's plan for one man to have multiple women.

God said, "I will make a help for man." That's singular! God meant for there to be one woman for one man.

Taken From Adam's Rib
As we saw, Adam had worked to name all the animals in the garden. Then he realized that there still was no one for him. He didn't as yet have what he really needed: a help meet for him.
And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.

And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
(Gen. 2:21-23)
God had formed man out of the dust of the earth. He reached down into the dirt, took some clay and formed the man. But when it came to the creation of the woman, this was different. She was specially made by God.

In verse 22 the Hebrew word translated "made" means "to build." God caused the man to sleep, then He took a rib out of man's side and from it built, crafted and created for him a special creature.

She was fashioned and specially designed by God. Then God brought her unto the man (v. 22). (Ladies, note that God presented her to him, so let Him do it for you; instead of you presenting yourself.)

Let me tell you how I think it all happened when God brought this wonderful creation to Adam. When Adam woke up, God said, "Adam, I have something for you." Then Adam saw what the Lord had created from within his own body. When he looked around and saw all the other creatures God had made, he realized what a special prize he had received from God.

God's Crowning Creation
Remember it was Adam's responsibility to name everything. So when he saw this new creature, he said, "She shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man" (v. 23).

In other words, she was "man with a womb." That's what a woman is. Woman is God's crowning creation. She is the mother of all things. She was built by God to be admired by man. She was not made to be hit or thrown down or handled roughly. She was made to be handled delicately.

Man and Woman as One
"Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh" (Gen. 2:24).

We are talking here about God's plan for man in the beginning.

God did not allow the first man to have this beautiful creature as a helpmate until he was ready to receive her. Adam had been doing his job and he had a feeling of his own worth. He was ready to take upon himself that which had been specially crafted for him by God.

I believe this is God's will for every man who is seeking a successful marriage.

Each man needs to realize that there is a woman who has been especially crafted and built to fit him. The husband should see his wife as God's gift to him; the single man should be believing God for just the right woman to be his mate.

God's plan is for the woman, as man's helpmate, to be adapting and completing to him.

This is different from the women's lib attitude in which a woman says, "I'm my own person. I don't need a man to tell me anything. I'm an independent woman." There is a place for being independent; I don't disagree with that.

But I'm talking here about God's plan. I know society may say something different, but we need to know what the Bible says.

The woman's role is to become one with the man and to adapt her life to his. God made her for that purpose. By adapting to him she helps to round out his life, and he needs that. And because God created woman to also be fulfilled, she will find fulfillment in being a completion to her godly man.

The man who is alone doesn't have everything; he can't do or know it all, and he can't be everywhere. When he is lacking, the woman as his wife will help to fill that void.

She will be for him what he is not. She will help him be all that he can be; that is, if he's smart enough to let her. A smart man will allow his woman to do that.

Men ought to learn to listen to their wives, and wives ought to take up their rightful role without trying to run the lives of their men. No woman should be standing toe-to-toe and nose-to-nose with her husband, saying, "You're not my daddy!" No, he isn't her daddy. But as her husband, she should be seeing him in a role that is higher than her daddy.

Gift of Singleness
Let's look at this Scripture again:

And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
(Gen. 2:18)
Now I want you to note what God says here: "It is not good that the man should be alone."

There are, however, certain exceptions to this. God has given some people the gift of singleness. These individuals have been called by God to be eunuchs for the kingdom of God's sake in order to minister the Gospel.

But when I found out I didn't have this gift of singleness, I had to do something about it. Now this doesn't mean if you are single that you can't take care of yourself and keep yourself walking holy before the Lord, especially concerning sex. You can—by acting on the Word of God.

But it isn't good for a man to be without a wife, unless called by God to be alone. Every man needs a wife, but marriage must come to him in time and in proper order—when he has matured a little, when he knows who he is, when he has a job and can support a wife.

No man should take on the responsibility of a wife before he has gotten his own act together. Except for those whom the Lord has spoken to and called to celibacy, every man needs a wife. No man is really complete without one. And I have news for every single man: God has one out there just for you.

Now if you say God has not given you the gift of singleness but after decades you haven't found a woman, something may be wrong. It's possible that you may have a problem and need deliverance.

If you have an attraction to the same sex, God can deliver you from it. I have been all around the country and seen people delivered from that demonic oppression.

But don't get me wrong. I'm not saying every guy who has been single for quite a while has anything wrong with him. A person can be single a long time and still live holy before God. He can still be looking for the right woman to share his life while he works to get his own self together. But he needs to choose correctly.

The Word says of the man, "Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the Lord" (Prov. 18:22).

In describing the virtuous woman, the Word says, "Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her" (Prov. 31:28).

God is pleased when a man and woman choose to come together as husband and wife. I realize we are living in "the modern era" when people "don't have to be married anymore." But those who choose to live together really aren't trying to follow God's plan.

The reason we have so much chaos, so much poverty and so many problems these days is because men have moved away from God's plan for their lives. If a man will follow God's plan, then blessings will come. But by following his own plans and feeding his own sexual desires, he will get himself into trouble.

Source: What On Earth Are We Here For? by Keith Butler
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers