There is so much going on in our personal lives let alone throughout the world.
How many times have you felt so depleted - so empty – just void of everything. Almost like an out of body experience and then you just CRY, you just SOB, you just WAIL.
When we were toddlers, children, teenagers we never dreamed of being EMPTY. It was all about being loved. Our family love, our friend love, our intimate love. Did you know that there are different types of love? The Greek identified 8. The 4 that we are familiar with are:
Philia (Friends)
Storge (Parent-Child)
Eros (Sexual)
Agape (Unconditional)
I am going to write about 3 types of love: Philia, Storge and Agape
I know in my early years of being a teenager I always had to have a best friend. This is an example of Philia Love. Someone I could share my youthful adventures with. What guy/dude I thought was cute, the latest dance moves, our favorite songs – you get the drift. How hurtful is it when that supposing friend betrays your innermost thoughts? Becomes a part of the group of teens that exclude you from everything and you become their target of ridicule. Some of you will cry, will feel all alone, will have insecurities. Others may become hateful and/or obsessive (which is another form of love called MANIA) among other characteristics. Some relationships of this type survive time and they become your sisterhood, your tribe, your village.
Another example of Philia Love is found in the book of John.
Do you know that Jesus wept? In John 11:35, the shortest verse in the Bible says,” Jesus wept”. Lazarus the brother of Mary and Martha had taken ill. At the time Jesus was in Galilee about a day’s journey to Bethany where Lazarus was. Jesus did not leave to see about Lazarus until 3 days later. By the time Jesus arrived Lazarus had died. Martha had said to Jesus if he had come earlier Lazarus would have been alive. Jesus wept because he was filled with compassion, Jesus wept because he was human, Jesus wept because he loved him, Jesus wept because of everything. Jesus knew that Lazarus would arise again, yet he was so moved because of their sorrow, their grief and loss that he wept. Jesus saw them as his friends. Jesus exhibited all of the human emotions of a friend. This is where our tribe, our village is in full force. We are there because of our love, we hurt when you hurt, we love when you love, we are that circle.
When I think of Storage love (a parent-child love). It is similar to the Philia love but a much stronger bond more of a kinship. I think of Abraham’s 2 sons – Isaac and Ishmael. Isaac was the son God promised Abraham and Sarah in their old age and Ishmael was the son that Abraham had with the servant Hagar when he did not totally believe God’s Word that he was to father a child with Sarah who was beyond childbearing years. In Genesis 21, the two sons of Abraham show the first signs of conflict. Although they were half- brothers, Sarah was upset because Ishmael who was 12-13 years older mocked Isaac. Sarah convinced Abraham to banish Hagar and Ishmael. Even though Abraham was distressed, he still sent them away. In Genesis 21:16, it says Then she went off and sat down about a bowshot away, for she thought, “I cannot watch the boy die.” And she sat there, she began to sob. How often do we just break down and feel hopeless and just cannot do anything, we’re just tired. Further on in verse 17, God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. Reading this verse, I know that God is always with us and always hears us whether we talk out loud or we are just thinking in our spirit and soul. In verse 18, God answers both Hagar and Ishmael and says” Lift up the boy and take him by the hand for I will make him into a great nation”.
Abraham, Sarah and Hagar loved their children. The love between a parent and child is sometimes questioned by others depending on their perception. One thing I have learned is to never question the parent-child relationship. Often times they are doing the best they can do given the circumstances. One thing for sure is that God knows, and God makes sure that His Purpose for His creation is fulfilled. You see Ishmael’s descendants are defined in Genesis 17:20, “And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation”. God answered Abraham’s prayer that Ishmael would be blessed, but through Isaac God would keep His covenant. In Genesis 17:19 it says, “Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac, I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. Abraham did the best he could based upon the choice he made. His heart was in the right place but his trust in fathering a child with Sarah was skeptical. Even so, God still answered his prayer regarding Ishmael.
The Love that Jesus has for us is AGAPE LOVE. This is the highest form of love. It is unconditional. What does that mean. It is GOD – it is one of God’s attributes, it is selfless, sacrificial, a love for all. We might have heard the verse from John 3:16 somewhere in our life travels. It says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, so whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”. God gave Jesus as the sacrificial lamb for all of our sins. That is AGAPE LOVE. This is the good news!!!
I say all this to you because through it all, through our emptiness, our sorrow, our tears, our grief of loss, GOD LOVES US!!! All of our choices good or bad. He is always with us; He know us, and He knows what path we will walk down. I love the scripture Psalm 30:5b that says, “Weeping may endure for a night, but JOY comes in the morning”. God is so awesome because he created the tears. The tears are a way of cleansing and ridding our body of toxins. One of the old gospel songs that I remember Shirley Caesar singing was called “Give Me a Clean Heart”. I remember part of it saying, “I want to walk much better; I want to live much better”. So yes, it is good to Cry, Sob, Wail because we know that tomorrow is a new day and new beginnings. Cry, Sob, Wail because we know it’s a cleansing. And do you know the best part - God is in the midst of it all. We are never alone, and we are one step closer to our Purpose. So, rejoice, shout because the best is yet to come! Amen
© 2020 Debra Wideman
How many times have you felt so depleted - so empty – just void of everything. Almost like an out of body experience and then you just CRY, you just SOB, you just WAIL.
When we were toddlers, children, teenagers we never dreamed of being EMPTY. It was all about being loved. Our family love, our friend love, our intimate love. Did you know that there are different types of love? The Greek identified 8. The 4 that we are familiar with are:
Philia (Friends)
Storge (Parent-Child)
Eros (Sexual)
Agape (Unconditional)
I am going to write about 3 types of love: Philia, Storge and Agape
I know in my early years of being a teenager I always had to have a best friend. This is an example of Philia Love. Someone I could share my youthful adventures with. What guy/dude I thought was cute, the latest dance moves, our favorite songs – you get the drift. How hurtful is it when that supposing friend betrays your innermost thoughts? Becomes a part of the group of teens that exclude you from everything and you become their target of ridicule. Some of you will cry, will feel all alone, will have insecurities. Others may become hateful and/or obsessive (which is another form of love called MANIA) among other characteristics. Some relationships of this type survive time and they become your sisterhood, your tribe, your village.
Another example of Philia Love is found in the book of John.
Do you know that Jesus wept? In John 11:35, the shortest verse in the Bible says,” Jesus wept”. Lazarus the brother of Mary and Martha had taken ill. At the time Jesus was in Galilee about a day’s journey to Bethany where Lazarus was. Jesus did not leave to see about Lazarus until 3 days later. By the time Jesus arrived Lazarus had died. Martha had said to Jesus if he had come earlier Lazarus would have been alive. Jesus wept because he was filled with compassion, Jesus wept because he was human, Jesus wept because he loved him, Jesus wept because of everything. Jesus knew that Lazarus would arise again, yet he was so moved because of their sorrow, their grief and loss that he wept. Jesus saw them as his friends. Jesus exhibited all of the human emotions of a friend. This is where our tribe, our village is in full force. We are there because of our love, we hurt when you hurt, we love when you love, we are that circle.
When I think of Storage love (a parent-child love). It is similar to the Philia love but a much stronger bond more of a kinship. I think of Abraham’s 2 sons – Isaac and Ishmael. Isaac was the son God promised Abraham and Sarah in their old age and Ishmael was the son that Abraham had with the servant Hagar when he did not totally believe God’s Word that he was to father a child with Sarah who was beyond childbearing years. In Genesis 21, the two sons of Abraham show the first signs of conflict. Although they were half- brothers, Sarah was upset because Ishmael who was 12-13 years older mocked Isaac. Sarah convinced Abraham to banish Hagar and Ishmael. Even though Abraham was distressed, he still sent them away. In Genesis 21:16, it says Then she went off and sat down about a bowshot away, for she thought, “I cannot watch the boy die.” And she sat there, she began to sob. How often do we just break down and feel hopeless and just cannot do anything, we’re just tired. Further on in verse 17, God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. Reading this verse, I know that God is always with us and always hears us whether we talk out loud or we are just thinking in our spirit and soul. In verse 18, God answers both Hagar and Ishmael and says” Lift up the boy and take him by the hand for I will make him into a great nation”.
Abraham, Sarah and Hagar loved their children. The love between a parent and child is sometimes questioned by others depending on their perception. One thing I have learned is to never question the parent-child relationship. Often times they are doing the best they can do given the circumstances. One thing for sure is that God knows, and God makes sure that His Purpose for His creation is fulfilled. You see Ishmael’s descendants are defined in Genesis 17:20, “And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation”. God answered Abraham’s prayer that Ishmael would be blessed, but through Isaac God would keep His covenant. In Genesis 17:19 it says, “Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac, I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. Abraham did the best he could based upon the choice he made. His heart was in the right place but his trust in fathering a child with Sarah was skeptical. Even so, God still answered his prayer regarding Ishmael.
The Love that Jesus has for us is AGAPE LOVE. This is the highest form of love. It is unconditional. What does that mean. It is GOD – it is one of God’s attributes, it is selfless, sacrificial, a love for all. We might have heard the verse from John 3:16 somewhere in our life travels. It says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, so whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”. God gave Jesus as the sacrificial lamb for all of our sins. That is AGAPE LOVE. This is the good news!!!
I say all this to you because through it all, through our emptiness, our sorrow, our tears, our grief of loss, GOD LOVES US!!! All of our choices good or bad. He is always with us; He know us, and He knows what path we will walk down. I love the scripture Psalm 30:5b that says, “Weeping may endure for a night, but JOY comes in the morning”. God is so awesome because he created the tears. The tears are a way of cleansing and ridding our body of toxins. One of the old gospel songs that I remember Shirley Caesar singing was called “Give Me a Clean Heart”. I remember part of it saying, “I want to walk much better; I want to live much better”. So yes, it is good to Cry, Sob, Wail because we know that tomorrow is a new day and new beginnings. Cry, Sob, Wail because we know it’s a cleansing. And do you know the best part - God is in the midst of it all. We are never alone, and we are one step closer to our Purpose. So, rejoice, shout because the best is yet to come! Amen
© 2020 Debra Wideman
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