A little revelation I had....
A short time ago, God convicted me about something that maybe some of you can relate to. It has to do with dating... which I am slightly hesitant to write about because 1) It is the topic of waaaay too many conversations among our youth and 2) I want the focus of my blog to be our relationship with God, not with the opposite gender. Nevertheless, my "revelation" has transformed all of my former predispositions on dating.... and the lesson I learned may actually serve as encouragement to you.
Let's be honest- it's hard to be a Single Christian in College (SCC). There is a heightened awareness of our singleness because we are getting older and alot of our friends are getting married. The SCC has to fight the internal struggle of intimacy vs. isolation. And even church seems like breeding ground for these feelings because SCC's are constantly sizing each other up for marriage. And it's even harder being a Romanian SCC because you have to tackle the enormous amount of pressure from your parents; "Why are you still single at 21? There must be something wrong with you..."
I've had alot of friends that have struggled with lonliness- and I thought I had the best advice for them: "Don't feel bad about being single... you can use this time to pray for your husband... and just wait.. be patient and wait...and God will bring you an amazing spouse that will blow you away... remember that His timing is perfect..."
In retrospect, my mentality was foolish. My prayers would be something along the lines of "Lord, right now I think singleness is a blessing... because I TRUST that one day you will bring me someone special." Can you see the error in my ways? My "joy" was based on the premise of delayed gratification. There was no purity in those prayers because I had already decided that God would bless me for facing this "struggle" in my life.
GOD HAS CHANGED MY PRAYERS... PRAISE HIM!!! For some reason unknown to me, [actually, I DO know- it's His grace :) ] He has showered and showered and SHOWERED me with His love and joy in the past few months... and has drawn me closer to Himself... and I've never experienced a greater peace in my life!!! Hallelujah!! With a sincere heart I can finally say:
My walk with God is so fulfilling and satisfying that even if I NEVER get married, my joy will be sustained because of my relationship with Jesus!
Now my advice to those struggling with lonliness? Seek the Lord, seek the Lord, SEEK THE LORD with ALL of your heart!!! If you expect Him to bring you someone, your heart might not be in the right place.
Let's be honest- it's hard to be a Single Christian in College (SCC). There is a heightened awareness of our singleness because we are getting older and alot of our friends are getting married. The SCC has to fight the internal struggle of intimacy vs. isolation. And even church seems like breeding ground for these feelings because SCC's are constantly sizing each other up for marriage. And it's even harder being a Romanian SCC because you have to tackle the enormous amount of pressure from your parents; "Why are you still single at 21? There must be something wrong with you..."
I've had alot of friends that have struggled with lonliness- and I thought I had the best advice for them: "Don't feel bad about being single... you can use this time to pray for your husband... and just wait.. be patient and wait...and God will bring you an amazing spouse that will blow you away... remember that His timing is perfect..."
In retrospect, my mentality was foolish. My prayers would be something along the lines of "Lord, right now I think singleness is a blessing... because I TRUST that one day you will bring me someone special." Can you see the error in my ways? My "joy" was based on the premise of delayed gratification. There was no purity in those prayers because I had already decided that God would bless me for facing this "struggle" in my life.
GOD HAS CHANGED MY PRAYERS... PRAISE HIM!!! For some reason unknown to me, [actually, I DO know- it's His grace :) ] He has showered and showered and SHOWERED me with His love and joy in the past few months... and has drawn me closer to Himself... and I've never experienced a greater peace in my life!!! Hallelujah!! With a sincere heart I can finally say:
My walk with God is so fulfilling and satisfying that even if I NEVER get married, my joy will be sustained because of my relationship with Jesus!
Now my advice to those struggling with lonliness? Seek the Lord, seek the Lord, SEEK THE LORD with ALL of your heart!!! If you expect Him to bring you someone, your heart might not be in the right place.
posted by sarah braica @ 10/23/2005
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