Ladies, ladies, ladies
Can I be honest with you all for today? There is something about a best friend that I yearn for. You see, there are a lot of people out there who have great best friends. You may be one of those, and I honestly pray that if you aren't right now you will be one day. I, unfortunately, haven't always been one of those people. Even right now, I'm trying to understand how a best friend relationship works. I can count on two hands the number of best friends that I've had over the years and of those friends, only a couple have truly shown to be sincere best friends.
In the last six months alone: I have had to examine an unhealthy friendship with a best friend; I've had a best friend decide she didn't want to be friends anymore (and didn't want to tell me that, either..); I've had what I thought was a new best friend who apparently didn't feel as close to me as I did to him; and I've looked back through my childhood and found that "best friends" really made fun of me behind my back. "Best friends" wanted to put hurdles in my path because they didn't like where I was going.
Does that make it easier for you all to understand how much I long for a "Kirk and Spock" friendship? For a brotherhood like that of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson? Dr. House and James Wilson; Corey and Shawn; Dawson and Pacey.... Boy this list is unending.
These guys literally had each others' backs through everything. I mean, a couple of them put their lives in the hands of their best friends and trusted they were safe there. Would you guys believe me if I told you there was a friendship like this in the Bible? I can't tell you all how exciting this was to me when I learned of these two. (Side note: I realize there are more examples than this one, but this is the one I found and have since fallen in love with! I would enjoy reading all the other examples; I encourage you to drop me a comment with another example and where their story can be read. :) )
The post today will be a little more interactive than my posts usually are. For starters, you should open your Bible to the book of 1 Samuel and read chapter 18 verses 1 through 5. We're introduced here to David and Jonathan; the first thing I notice is how quickly the two were bound to each other as friends. They met, became friends, and quite literally bound themselves to each other (through a covenant which is kind of like saying a promise, agreement, or contract). This is more than a skin-deep matter. They are bound by the soul- you can't break that type of a bond you guys! Nothing could tear these two apart!
Moving right along with their story, you should skip down to 1 Samuel 19. Here we read just how good of friends David and Jonathan really were. Saul, Jonathan's father, was the king of Israel. For those of you who don't already know this, kings are powerful men. When a king tells you to do something, you have to do it; there is virtually no way out of it! So when Saul orders all of his servants and his son Jonathan to kill David, imagine what Jonathan was put through! His own father, and the king, was ordering him to kill his brother: his best friend, the guy he promised before God to be there for. What would you have done in that situation? For me, I hope I would do what Jonathan did.
Jonathan respected his father and did everything he could to diffuse the situation peaceably. He did what he could to save face of all three men: himself, his father and David. It works at first, but then Saul is overcome once again with an angry spirit and David is forced to talk to Jonathan about it. 1 Samuel 20 is the highlight of this story for me. This chronicles the exchange between Jonathan and David. We see that Jonathan can't imagine this evil coming from his father, but he also knows he must protect David at great costs. He wants to believe his father is still a noble and righteous man, but he knows that David is an honest man. So they come to an agreement. David looks to bring out an honest response from Saul while Jonathan looks to prove to David that all is well. The chess board has been set and all that is left is a game of quick wit. Much to Jonathan's surprise, David was right and Saul was out for blood.
Side note: Have you ever pushed your mom's or dad's buttons too far? I remember one time when I was younger I was bugging my mom (for who knows what reason) and I eventually bugged her to the point she said words to me I never thought I'd hear come out of her mouth. If that's happened to you, you know how much it hurts. It honestly scared me to silence! Imagine being told, "'You son (or daughter) of a perverse, rebellious woman, do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother's nakedness? For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom shall be established. Therefore send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die.'" (1 Samuel 20:30b-31)
To my astonishment, Jonathan wasn't scared silent by this. Instead, he responded with confidence. He asked his father very plainly what David had done. Saul, being that he was overcome with this evil spirit didn't have an answer for that but rather he attempted to kill Jonathan. Wow... Talk about scary and hurtful!
Now, men today aren't very big on showing affection for one another. I have noticed more recently that many Christian men are better about this than those outside of the church but even with that being said, it doesn't seem to be very often that guys show affection to each other. Jonathan and David wept together. Let me say that again, they wept together. Jonathan didn't stand beside David awkwardly patting him on the back as he shed tears of grief. He didn't tell David to get off of him when he kissed him. They grieved together. They were still bound to each other. (See 1 Samuel 20:41-42.)
I don't cry very often, but I would like to know that if I were crying, my best friend would be right there with. me. Not beside me, not rubbing my back but feeling awkward to witness this, not distracted by his/her cell phone. I want to feel with my best friend. I want to be there with that person, just as I want them to be there with me.
Ladies: please, please, please take this lesson to heart. We people were made to have and share emotions. There is nothing "natural" about hiding our tears or our joys. We have to work with each other. Pray for each other this week; I will be praying for you!
With the love of the Lord,
Kat
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