"Let the morning bring me word of Your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in You. Show me the way I should go, for to you I life up my soul."
Psalm 143:8
My sister sent me the following in an email a few months ago, but I didn’t read it until today. God knows just what we need at just exactly the right time! The text below is from my sister’s friend and friend of a friend or something of that sort. It seems that it’s been passed on quite a few times, and I don’t know who the original authors are but wanted to share this blessing and encouragement with y’all. This can apply to lots of areas in life, but it is focused specifically on marriage.
I have recently found myself wrestling with issues involving things such as moving, change, the WR, home, family, friends, what's after the WR, marriage, ministry, feeling pulled in so many directions and just life in general. Where do I "fit" and what does my life look like "long term?" This email encouraged and reminded me to just follow after Jesus. He is ALL that I need. Rest in Him, friends.
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First, I want to share this quote with you. I found it on a blog somewhere, and I loved it
Everyone longs to give herself to someone, to have a deep soul relationship with another, to be loved thoroughly and exclusively. But God says to the Christian,
‘No, not until you are satisfied and fulfilled and content with being loved by Me alone…I love you, my child. And until you discover that only in Me is your satisfaction to be found, you will not be capable of the perfect human relationship that I have planned for you.
You will never be united with another until you are united with Me – exclusive of anyone or anything else, exclusive of any other desire or longing. I want you to stop planning, stop wishing, and allow Me to give the most thrilling plan existing to you – you must keep watching Me, expecting the greatest things.
Keep experiencing the satisfaction of knowing that I AM; keep learning and listening to the things I tell you. You must wait… Don’t be anxious. Don’t look around at things others have gotten or I have given them; don’t look at the things you want. You just keep looking off and away. Look up to Me or you’ll miss what I want to show you.
And then, when you’re ready, I’ll surprise you with a love far more wonderful than any you would ever dream. You see, until you are ready, and until the one I have for you is ready – I am working even this minute to have you both ready at the same time – until you are both exclusively devoted to Me and the life I’ve prepared for you, you won’t be able to experience the love that exemplifies your relationship with Me, and this is perfect love.
And, dear one, I want you to have this most wonderful love. I want you to see, in the flesh, a picture of your relationship with Me and to enjoy materially and concretely the everlasting union of beauty and perfection and love that I offer you with Myself.
Know I love you utterly. I am the Almighty. Believe and be satisfied.’"
So, a Bible study that I went to last week was really neat to me, because the topic was something that the Lord had been showing me for about 3 weeks prior to it, haha. Basically, the Lord has really just brought to my attention the fact that I've been sooo worried about "The Next Step" in life. Graduation, College, Marriage, Career, Etc… I think that for alot of girls, the next step seems to be marriage. And, sometimes it kind of seems like that's the main focus. But, I feel like the Lord has been telling me, lately, that that isn't what I need to be focused on. I've realized that I need to be completely satisfied with the Lord. And, my complete satisfaction with Him needs to come before I can be satisfied with *anyone or anything* else.
First of all, marriage is not for everyone. Take Paul, for example. Paul even says in I Corinthians 7:7-9 that it is good for the unmarried to remain single, unless they have no self-control. Then he says, that it is to better to marry than to burn with passion. -There are some people that are perfectly content with being single and who have no desire to be married. So, according to Paul, that is a good thing, too.
And, this next passage is the one that really made me stop and think about this whole topic. Paul goes on and gives a reason for people to remain single. I Corinthians 7:32-35 talks about the unmarried being concerned about the things of the Lord and those who are married being concerned about the things of the world, namely, how they may please their spouses. In verse 35 Paul explains that he is not trying to restrain people from getting married, but that he is trying to secure undistracted devotion to the Lord. -I think that while we're single, we definitely need to make the Lord our main focus. Because once you're married, you have new distractions: A spouse, a home, a family, etc…. And no, this is not my opinion, as I have never been married, haha. I've heard this from other married women. 🙂 And, I'm not saying that those distractions are a bad thing. But, they are distractions, nonetheless.
Second of all, marriage is a temporary thing. In Matthew 22:23-33, the Sadducees are questioning Jesus about marriage in the resurrection. You know the story… About the married man who dies having no children, then his brother marries his wife, and he dies…. And so on, all the way through 7 brothers. Finally the wife dies. The Sadducees ask Jesus whose wife she will be in the resurrection, since she married all 7 brothers. Jesus answers them by saying that they do not understand the Scriptures. Because, in the resurrection, there is NO marriage. So, obviously, marriage is temporary.
Now, I'm sure at this point, you're probably thinking that I'm crazy and that I've turned into some kind of marriage-basher. But, I can assure you that that isn't my point, at all. Personally, I would absolutely LOVE to get married one day and have a family of my own to love and take care of! Marriage is a great thing!
§ Genesis 2:18~ Then the Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him."
§ Proverbs 18:22~ He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord.
§ Ecclesiastes 4:9-10~ Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another lift him up.
Humans are made for relationships. It's as simple as that. But, our very first relationship EVER should be between us and God. He is and truly wants to be our first love.
§ Psalm 73:25-26~ Whom have I in heaven but you? And besides You, I desire nothing on eath. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
So, here are my thoughts: Like I said earlier, I would love to get married one day. But, that isn't what I need to be focused on. I'm not going to just sit around and be anxiously awaiting something that may not even happen. That would be a waste of time. And, according to Psalm 90:10,12, I need to be numbering my days. I don't have time to waste. I could be doing sooo much more to serve the Lord during my single days, than just waiting around for Prince Charming. Now, I'm not saying that we shouldn't be preparing for marriage, because I definitely think that that would be very beneficial, haha. 🙂 But, even preparing for marriage can become a distraction if we let that be our main focus.
I really love the story in Luke 10 of Jesus coming to visit Mary and Martha. Martha was busy preparing and serving, while Mary was seated at Jesus' feet listening to him speak. So, Martha asks Jesus to make Mary help her. But, Jesus answers and says that only *ONE* thing is necessary and that Mary has chosen the good part, which will not be taken from her. In this story, Mary's focus on the Lord is considered eternal, while Martha's busyness was considered temporary. So, I know whose example I want to follow. I don't want to be sooo busy with other things when I should be focused on the Lord!
