When summer wedding invitations flood your mailbox...
When the next big birthday creeps ever closer...
When you don't think you could possibily muster the emotional strength to view even one more relationship status change on your Facebook news feed...
Remember that you are not alone!
I'm convinced that the Lord has a special place in his heart for singles. I have no scriptural basis for that other than the fact that Jesus himself, God in the flesh dwelling among us, chose to live His life as a single.
Think about how crazy this is: Statistics say that the vast majority of Americans (over 90% for sure) will marry at least once in their lifetime. Marrieds, therefore, are clearly the majority. Yet, the Father ordained that our Savior would forgo this path, in favor of singleness (at least for his earthly life as it was 2,000 years ago. We think our wait for a spouse is long...He's still waiting for His bride!). Until the day of his death, for 33 years, Jesus lived as a single--a life that could be construed, in some ways, as easier than being married. Yet, as any adult single can attest, when you're actually living singleness, day in and day out, the intense difficulties and struggles unique to living life alone are painfully obvious...
I've never really taken time to truly consider Jesus' single state before now, but as I write this, the revelation is awakening in my heart and mind. Jesus experienced my singleness struggles firsthand! Not only does He SEE my loneliness/heartache/questioning during this time, he knows exactly how it FEELS.
I take amazing comfort in the fact that Scripture tells me that my Savior...
Experienced rejection (Acts 4:11)
Was tempted in every way I am (Hebrews 4:15)
Experienced loneliness and often did things alone (Luke 5:16, Matthew 4:1)
Questioned the Father's plan for his life (yet still chose to humbly submit to the Father's will) (Philipians 4:8, Matthew 26:36-46).
*Cool thing I never noticed before: In that passage in Matthew, Jesus prayed the same desperate prayer to the Father three times! Wow, even Jesus understands the urge we feel to pray the same thing over and over (how many pages of my journal are almost mirror images of others from the past, expressing the same exact longings/confessions of submission to God's will above my own?). There is something deeply reassuring about this...
Just when I think I'm alone in these feelings of rejection/sadness/loneliness that surround my singleness, I remember Jesus...
When the next big birthday creeps ever closer...
When you don't think you could possibily muster the emotional strength to view even one more relationship status change on your Facebook news feed...
Remember that you are not alone!
I'm convinced that the Lord has a special place in his heart for singles. I have no scriptural basis for that other than the fact that Jesus himself, God in the flesh dwelling among us, chose to live His life as a single.
Think about how crazy this is: Statistics say that the vast majority of Americans (over 90% for sure) will marry at least once in their lifetime. Marrieds, therefore, are clearly the majority. Yet, the Father ordained that our Savior would forgo this path, in favor of singleness (at least for his earthly life as it was 2,000 years ago. We think our wait for a spouse is long...He's still waiting for His bride!). Until the day of his death, for 33 years, Jesus lived as a single--a life that could be construed, in some ways, as easier than being married. Yet, as any adult single can attest, when you're actually living singleness, day in and day out, the intense difficulties and struggles unique to living life alone are painfully obvious...
I've never really taken time to truly consider Jesus' single state before now, but as I write this, the revelation is awakening in my heart and mind. Jesus experienced my singleness struggles firsthand! Not only does He SEE my loneliness/heartache/questioning during this time, he knows exactly how it FEELS.
I take amazing comfort in the fact that Scripture tells me that my Savior...
Experienced rejection (Acts 4:11)
Was tempted in every way I am (Hebrews 4:15)
Experienced loneliness and often did things alone (Luke 5:16, Matthew 4:1)
Questioned the Father's plan for his life (yet still chose to humbly submit to the Father's will) (Philipians 4:8, Matthew 26:36-46).
*Cool thing I never noticed before: In that passage in Matthew, Jesus prayed the same desperate prayer to the Father three times! Wow, even Jesus understands the urge we feel to pray the same thing over and over (how many pages of my journal are almost mirror images of others from the past, expressing the same exact longings/confessions of submission to God's will above my own?). There is something deeply reassuring about this...
Just when I think I'm alone in these feelings of rejection/sadness/loneliness that surround my singleness, I remember Jesus...
"He was despised and rejected by people. He was a man of sorrows, familiar with suffering. He was despised like one from whom people turn their faces, and we didn't consider him to be worth anything."
Isaiah 53:3
And thus I shut my self-pitying mouth...
My heart lesson today: Jesus cares about my struggles. Jesus understands my emotions. He has experienced what I am going through. But He will never abandon me in this.
He is walking with me. Comforting me. Strengthening me. Working His purposes in and through me, in ways far deeper than I can ever fathom.
"Bare heights of loneliness...a wilderness whose burning winds sweep over glowing sands, what are they to Him? Even there He can refresh us, even there He can renew us."
-Amy Carmichael
awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. HUGS to you, my friend! I've often been exactly there - hating singleness - it comes and goes. I do relate!
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