"Being Single in the Midst of the Taken..."

Welp. Valentines week (single awareness week) is now over and all the single ladies say??..

HALLELUJAH.

I am not single any longer, but I do remember those days...and for all of you girls who might be thinking to yourself that your singleness couldn't possibly be anything more than a big ole fat curse on your life, I challenge you in this post to rethink that thought. WHAT IF...lets just go here for a second...WHAT IF...YOUR SINGLENESS IS ACTUALLY YOUR BLESSING?

Sometimes life for you doesn't makes sense. You are doing the right things, yet all around you, its as if every one has their someone, BUT you. You look at your friends who seem to have it all together with their "perfect boo" and wonder when it will all happen for you.

You see, your not desperate or anything. You don't necessarily  cry your eyes every night as your head hits the pillow... but your also not ready to turn into the single cat lady either.

I'm here to tell you tonight that...

GOD CREATED YOUR SINGLENESS.

GOD LOVES YOUR SINGLENESS.

GOD HAS SOMETHING TO SAY ABOUT YOUR SINGLENESS.

SO...why is you being single "GOOD"?

-----> SINGLENESS ALLOWS YOU TO GET LOST.

In middle school, high school  or even college..us Jesus lovin' gals always seem to have two roadmaps in front of us at all times when we are single.. you got GUYS and then you got GOD. One way or another, guys always seem to be fighting for our attention. Even if we look out and see absolutely zero guys "fighting" for us ,  our minds are always thinking about which guy we want to be with, which one we think is the hottest, which one we will choose to pursue, yada yada. SO, regardless of whether your SEEing the guys out there fighting for your attention, they are without even doing anything. On the other hand,God is a gentleman..BUT...He is ALSO a fighter and will not lose your attention without going down with a fight for your heart.

When you get lost in someone, it's as if time literally stands still when you are with them. When you are apart from them, the time cannot go by any slower...the clock ticks one second at a time and you can't help but count down the hours until your with that someone again...you daydream about who they are..what you love about them, where you see your life going with them, the things you want to accomplish with them...the list goes on.. you care more about that person than you do yourself and your couldn't be more satisfied than when your together and in their arms...

God wants you to get lost in Him during your singleness...almost as if you weren't single ;)

GOD LOVES YOUR SINGLENESS AND THAT PICTURE OF YOU BECAUSE HE SEES IT AS A PERFECT TIME TO ROMANCE YOU, TO SWEEP YOU OFF YOUR FEET, TO CAPTIVATE YOUR HEART AND TO LET YOU FEEL HIS OWN HEARTBEAT. 

--->He doesn't just want your church face on Sunday, and even further he doesn't just want your heartfelt 30 minutes every day and your beautiful worship when your in your car...although those things are fabulous, he wants so much more than that from you... He wants the very things that hold your attention in your mind 100%  of the time..what pulls in your heart? Is it searching and seeking for your husband? Is it desperately longing to have a guy to go out with on the weekends so you won't be alone? He wants that deep hurt. He wants that craving you have to find satisfaction in a guy. He wants to show you in your singleness that HE IS ENOUGH. 

How else could he say what He did in Revelation 2:2-4 if he did not want all of us, if he did not want us to fall in love with him and to have that deep close loving relationship with Him..

"I see what you've done, your hard, hard work, your refusal to quit. I know you can't stomach evil, that you weed out apostolic pretenders. I know your persistence, your courage in my cause..that you never wear out.. BUT...you walked away from your first love -- why? What's going on with you anyway? Do you have any idea how far you've fallen?"

Why fall in love with Jesus? Why not run to that next guy that walks across your path? What's it matter anyway? I can see this guy giving me attention....or ...I want so badly for this guy to give me attention..I can't physically see God..it's just different Ash.

Let's look at it this way...

WHY DO YOU DATE? ----------------------------------> TO ULTIMATELY FIND A HUSBAND.

WHY DO YOU WANT A HUSBAND? ---------------> TO  LOVE AND BE LOVED

WHO CREATED LOVE? --------------------------------->GOD IS THE AUTHOR OF LOVE

WHY DID GOD CREATE MARRIAGE?-----------> SO THAT IN YOUR LIFE, YOU COULD 

EXPERIENCE A TINY TASTE OF THE LOVE GOD HAS FOR YOU...SO THAT YOU COULD SEE WHAT GOD WANTS YOUR RELATIONSHIP TO LOOK LIKE WITH HIM, ONLY TO BE PURE, HOLY AND BEAUTIFUL RATHER THAN BROKEN and IMPERFECT..(EARTHLY MARRIAGES NOW)...

We date to ultimately find a husband, but we focus more time and attention on falling in love with a guy than we do falling in love with the very one who not only CREATED marriage, but CREATED love. Ya see, when you choose to get lost in the Lord during your singleness..

1) YOU FIND YOUR SECURITY IN HIM.

2) YOU FIND TRUE CONTENTMENT.

3) GOD PREPARES YOU FOR YOUR FUTURE HUSBAND. ...rather than looking and seeking out what YOU want in a man, you BECOME what your looking for. You stop searching and begin practicing being a godly woman...this takes your eyes off of guys and places them on Christ...

4) YOU FIND REAL TRUST IN THE LORD.

5) YOU FIND FREEDOM..freedom to give yourself away, to make new friendships with people not like you, to be and live daring , to invest in ministry like you never could do before, to be involved in something so much bigger than a small relationship...

  YOUR SINGLENESS IS A GOOD THING. IT HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED BY GOD. EVERYTHING ABOUT GOD IS GOOD. EVERYTHING HE CREATES IS GOOD. CHOOSE TO GET LOST IN GOD BEFORE YOU FIND YOURSELF LOST IN A GUY, BECAUSE I'M TELLING YOU...if you haven't fallen in love with Jesus first, you will never experience what true love looks like in your life..

Jesus sees your journey on the single road, He sees what you desire...and He also finds getting lost in Him the whole way through more beautiful than a big ole pearl. =) enjoy every minute of your single ride, learn from the Lord, learn who he is, learn about him.. thats what you would do in a relationship with a guy...right? what do you know about jesus? do you really know all of his awesome story? the things he said..the things he did? what his interests and hobbies were? what he was passionate about? 

choose to get lost in Jesus while your on the single road.. I can assure you, you'll find yourself with more love and satisfaction than any "hottie" out there could ever give you =)