Waiting on the Lord

What does it mean to "wait on the Lord?" This is a phrase that I am sure you all have heard numerous times. It is something that I think people have the wrong idea about, at least in general. A song that I heard while I was driving tonight spoke to me on this topic. The song is "While I'm Waiting" by John Waller. The song talks about worshiping and serving the Lord while waiting. The waiting can be a painful period, but God doesn't want us to sit around and wait for Him to do something. Rather, we need to continue to serve and worship Him in that time. I believe that we are given a period of waiting in which to grow closer to Him and we can only achieve this through worshiping and serving Him. 

I have always struggled with waiting. I mean, isn't it always every girl's dream to find her Prince Charming and run off into the sunset with a happily ever after? I had that dream and thought I would have found him by now and we would be planning our fairy tale wedding. However, this is not reality and is not God's plan for me in this moment. Right now my calling is to be single and share this journey that God is taking me on. I am so excited to share the things that God speaks to me on this topic so I can help other women in their own journey through singlehood. On another note, I believe the things I am sharing can also benefit those in relationships or who are married, because these things do not just apply to those who are single. 

I want to leave you with the link to the song and also with Isaiah 40:31.

But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

I Don't Have it All Together

God taught me something today. He taught me that so far in my blog it may appear to those who read it that I have things together, that I know what this thing called singlehood is all about. I want to make it clear to everyone that I do not have it all together and I am on a journey. That is why my blog is titled "A Single Woman's Journey." I am on this journey, allowing God to lead me to where He wants me to go.

I have had such an anxious heart and mind today about a personal situation and it has been invading my mind all day. I am anxious about something that I need to do and God has just told me that I need to be still. Friends, let me tell you, this is not an easy thing to do. As a college student, there are so many things around that tend to make one think, "rest, what is this thing called rest?" It is difficult to do this just to rest our bodies, but to rest in God? That is something that is necessary. God wants us to rest in Him so that He can renew our strength.

I want to share this song with you that God used to really speak to me. I do not have this all together and I am by no means perfect. I am just on a journey that God has called me on to reach out to others. Listen to this song and be blessed and encouraged.

Rant Session

If I'm being honest, being single, a lot of the time, stinks. This is what I have felt due to the pressures felt from society and the people around me. Society has placed this view on relationship statuses to be something where, in order to experience fulfillment and happiness, one must be in a relationship (whether that is boyfriend/girlfriend, engaged, or married). What is the big deal about it anyway? So many people have been successful and lived a wonderful life without ever being in a serious relationship with someone or being married.

Take for example, Jesus. Was Jesus ever married? Nope. Jesus was a single man here on earth, but when He came to this earth, He overcame the old law and we are now married to Christ. We have an everlasting relationship with Him, who redeemed us from our sins. Take a look at what I found in scripture:

“Or do you not know, brothers—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress. Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God.” –Romans 7:1-4 (ESV)

This passage is showing that when Jesus came and was crucified on the cross for our sins, we have died to the law through His body and now belong to Him. This can be taken as marriage to Christ, and some translations use the word “marriage” in this passage rather than “belong” to explain our relationship to Christ. Take a moment to reflect on what this passage means to you in your life.

Some of the most common complaints I hear myself saying are things like: 

• I am not dating, therefore nobody likes me and I'm not good enough
• All of my friends are dating, becoming engaged, or getting married; therefore, there must be something wrong with me because I'm not like that. 
• What is wrong with me? I can’t get a boyfriend.
• I must not be pretty because no guy has ever asked me out.

Have you felt this way? I know there are more to add to the list. I have found that writing out this list has helped me vent and get things off of my chest, resulting in my feeling a lot better when I get done. There are going to be struggles in any moment in life. This happens to be the moment you are in, but what are you going to do with it? I always go back to this one saying that I found somewhere, I cannot recall where. But it goes like this:

“God chooses what we go through; we choose how we go through it” –Unknown

Friends, please do not be discouraged and feel like you have nowhere to go and are no good. God loves you, I love you, and there are so many people out there that love you. You may not have a significant other at this point in your life, but God will bring someone when His timing is right. Don’t lose heart and don’t give up, good things will come to those who wait! I will talk about waiting in more depth in future posts, so stay tuned!

What I Thought I Wanted...

The title to this blog post is the title to a Sara Groves song that I heard the other day. I was driving with my friend on Friday and told her to put a new CD in, since I was getting tired of the one I had in there for the past week, and she put in one of my Sara Groves CDs. When I was driving on my way to work later that day, this song happened to be playing. Here is the YouTube video of the song:

The lyrics to this song really spoke to me about singlehood. I have all these things that I want, and sometimes when I think I'm getting those things, I find out that God has another idea in mind. Have you ever been in a situation where you have something in mind but then something different happens? Sometimes that difference doesn't have to be too large, it can be small but still make all the difference. 

I see this fitting in with the topic of singlehood because there are all kinds of things that we, singles, may desire and feel is a need for our lives. However, the true fulfillment of our desires and needs comes from God and God alone. If we are not focused on Him and allowing Him to intervene in our lives, we are not going to live fulfilled lives that are worthy of Him or that bring glory to Him. This goes into living out our lives for the will of God, which is bringing Him glory in everything that we do. 

To speak more on the song itself, I found it very encouraging to me the way Sara Groves was saying she wanted to be broken; broken, grateful, thankful, and peaceful. I want this to become my prayer. Some may ask, why in the world would you ever want to be broken? Let me tell you what I think about that. I find that we may not actually want the brokenness itself, but rather the result of what comes from brokenness, such as this: God can use us in ways that we couldn't otherwise be used and we wouldn't learn things that we would learn had we not become broken. I have an example from my own life.

This past summer I remember continually asking God to bring me to a breaking point, because  I knew that I couldn't go on like I was without reaching a point where I was broken and had nowhere else to go. He slowly brought me there and, while it wasn't actually complete brokenness, I did find myself at a place where I knew things were all a big mess in my life and I couldn't handle it on my own. I had to turn to God to help take on my burdens and really deepen my prayer life. One thing that God has spoken to me on this topic is the prayer of thankfulness and gratefulness. I have found myself taking so many things for granted and not thanking Him when it comes to the little things in life.

Friends, allow God to break you so you can come to a place of full surrender and experience deep growth in your relationship with him that you would not otherwise be able to experience. This may be a hard road to take, seeing as how so many people have relationships and that is what your desire may be at this time. Don't lose hope and think that God will never fulfill that desire. We can take this time we are in right now to pursue a deep and intimate relationship with Him, because right now we can fully focus on that relationship. Think about it, you won't have this opportunity in the same way once you're in an intimate relationship with another person. Use the time you have available now to deepen your relationship with Christ. This is only a glimpse of what I think on this, there will be more to come! I would like to leave you with this verse:

"But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." James 4:6 (ESV)

Singlehood: The Beginning of My Perspective

So what is this blog all about? Simple answer: singlehood. Complicated answer: only God knows. I have felt God calling me to write a book about singlehood and what it means to live your life as a single person rather than putting your life on hold until the day you get married. The truth in the matter is, this is not how things work. There is not one event in life that will make your life complete but believing in Christ and accepting Him as your one and only Savior; He is the only way to true and long-lasting contentment.

My thoughts have been all over the place lately on the topic, but it has been a good time of brainstorming. My whole synopsis on singlehood and this new place that I have discovered I am at is, what I believe to be, a different way of thinking. Singlehood to me is not meant to be a depressing, sad time where you wallow in the fact that you are single and nobody likes you. Is there any truth in that? No, there isn't. If you find some, let me know.

I strongly believe that God has called some to remain single, because the way relationships are looked at in today's society is much different from that of the Bible. The Bible, for example, tells that man and woman are to become one in marriage. However, in  Romans 7, it is written that Christ has overcome the old law and we are married to Christ. Being married to Christ means that we can live a fulfilled life in being "married" to Christ and not having the requirement to be married to another person.

Some may say something about Genesis and how God created Eve as a helpmate to Adam. This is true, but I believe that as more people entered into the world and how Christ has come and overcome the old law, there are relationships all around us that can complete us. We only need Christ to be complete. Now, I'm not saying that you need to go and live your life alone and as a hermit, because you have Christ, but rather to not let your time of singlehood be wasted. Rather, live your life to the fullest and seek God's will in everything you do, knowing that you have been made whole and complete in Christ.

May this be an encouragement to you, dear friends, wherever you may fall in the realm of singlehood. I encourage you to be content with where you are in life, whether single, dating, engaged, married, or any other relationship status. God doesn't care whether you are married or not, He wants you to look to Him for everything and in everything bring Him the praise and glory. I will leave you with this passage from James 1:2-4.

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." (ESV)