Saturday, April 28, 2012

Content in Singleness

Ever felt like there is no possible way that you could ever feel content spending the rest of your life being single?

I remember a time that I thought that there was absolutely no way that I could ever survive staying in my father's household all of my life.
It's not that I didn't LOVE living here, it was just the fact that I thought that getting married and having a family of my own looked WAY more fulfilling and special.

I was reading back through some of my journals from years back, and I laughed to see how many times I wrote about how worried I was that I would grow up to be just an "old maid".
God has taught me so much through the years, especially this year as I watched my little sister fall in love and get married herself.

I have finally learned to be content with where I am. 

I now could honestly say that would be happy to spend the rest of my days with my family if God so wills.
This change of heart did not come about all of the sudden, it took many years of growing and learning and some hard knocks in the head before I realized what is really important.
And that is this....
The most important thing in this life is not to find the perfect job, have a perfect body, find the perfect man (or woman), or live the perfect life.
But the most important thing that we can do in this life is to seek FIRST His kingdom. Serving God and loving Him with ALL our heart, ALL our soul and ALL our mind should be what we live for.
And upon saying that I'll say that the time we have being single is the only time that we have to serve God with everything that we are.

1 Corinthians 7:32-34
But I would have you without carefulness. He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord:
But he that is married careth for the things of the world, how he may please his wife.
There is also a difference between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband.

Now I'm not saying that you shouldn't get married, if you keep reading Paul goes on to say that marriage can be a good thing. And if you think about it God was the one that created man and woman to be together.
The point that I'm trying to get across is this:
Our time being single shouldn't revolve around constantly looking for that "special someone". If you spend your days dreaming, wishing and searching, you might end up missing out on what God wants to do in and through your life right now.
We need to trust God to bring the right one to us in His time if it is His will.

If you read earlier on in 1 Corinthians chapter 7, Paul talks about being content with where God has placed us in our life. We shouldn't try to get out of a situation just because we think that a different life would suit us better. God has us where we are for a reason. And unless He clearly shows us to travel a different path, I believe that we should bloom where we are planted.

I still dream of getting married and having a family someday, but now instead of holding tightly onto what I would like to see happen in my future, I have given ALL control to God.
I now truly understand what God meant when He said to seek first His kingdom, and all these things shall be added unto you. It means that what is important is to seek God, if we do that, we will not have to worry about all the other stuff. God will add into our lives everything that He knows is good for us. Whether it means being married someday or not.

I know now that God has me where I am for a special purpose, 
and knowing that I'm needed right where I am right now is all that I need to be content.