Are You Stuck in a Relationship Where the Promise of Intimacy is Unfulfilled?

Read |Genesis 2: 15 - 24, CSB|

We’re embroiled in a civil war. It would seem that this war has always been, is and will be. You and I have never known a world void of conflict. You and I have never known a world in which each person is seen as bearing an unconditional dignity. You and I have never known a world in which people walked hand in hand instead of jockeying for rank.

What we have known is the presence of war and “peace time” corrupted by rumors of war. What we have known is a world in which dignity is conditioned upon what people know, own, achieve and look like. What we have known is a world in which the strong are so at the expense of the weak. And in this world, many of us have known what it is to fear our lover’s strength. But, this is not as it has always been. Our world has a beginning  in which people are seen as possessing an unconditional dignity, there is an absence of conflict and man and woman collaborate in the rule of creation, rather than jockey for power over each other.

Our history begins with God. God creates matter; establishes time; brings order to the material world, creating the clear domains of sky, sea and land; fills the domains with life and then fashions, out of the dust, man and woman. They are created in His image. To them, He ascribes a dignity based on who He is (unchangeable in perfection) and what He has done (made them in agreement with His perfect intentions). And we see in the first recorded encounter between man and woman, a pervasive unity between the two. Man looks at the woman and declares her to be bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. He sees one so kin to him that he knows immediately that she is from him. And the result of this recognition leads them to a more profound unity: “they become one flesh.”  (Genesis 1: 1 - 28 and 2:22 - 24, CSB). 

There is a noticeable absence of striving. The first man and woman bore the same distinctions that are obvious to us today. Yet, their distinctions are not assigned differing levels of worth. They are both equally valuable in the sight of God and because their unity with God is not yet broken, they see each other as equals. It is this right seeing that positions them to carry out their God given mandate to “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.” (Genesis 1:28, CSB).

This is a wonderful beginning, yet you and I both know that the happy home is disrupted by sin. Sin destroys their right relationship with God and each other. No longer do they see as He does. They cannot. Instead, in the absence of God’s light, they come to perceive their differences as dangerous. Shame and fear seep in. But, here in the middle of the mess, God opens His mouth to speak hope. He promises to send Jesus to right the wrong between them and Him and each other. (Genesis 3).

Beloved, are you stuck in the mess? Are you stuck in a relationship where the promise of intimacy is unfulfilled? Are you stuck in a relationship in which your lover has become your rival? There is help for you. God desires you to take it.

Call the National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1. 800.799.SAFE (7233) or TTY 1.800.787.3224

Learn the truth about power and control and break free from abuse: https://www.thehotline.org/identify-abuse/power-and-control/

For our sisters in Jamaica:
Kingston
Address: 4 Ellesmere Road, Kingston 10
Phone: (876) 929-9038
Fax: (876) 926-9418
Email: wicrisiscentre@yahoo.com and womanincjamaica@gmail.com
 
Montego Bay Affiliate
Address: 53 St. James Street
Phone: (876) 952-9533-4
Hours: Monday – Friday, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Email: womanincjamaica@gmail.com

Teach the girls in your life about the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships: 
https://www.thehotline.org/resources/healthy-relationships/

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Reflect

How does today’s sharing invite you, as a child of God, to live? (Hint: use the categories below to help you reflect).

• Spiritually: How you relate to God
• Soul and Mind: How you think, choose, your sense of right and wrong and your feelings
• Body: What you do with it (actions); where you take it (environment); how you treat it (give and or withhold); with whom you share it and why.​