Single? Embrace this Time, Don’t Hide from It

Philippians 4:12 “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.  I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

Paul writes here that he has “learned the secret of being content in any and every situation.”  Well, he must not have been single long…wait…that’s right!…he never married.  We never seem to be content with where we are in life, no matter what stage, but especially while we are single.  I want to challenge you to actually embrace this time of being single and to not hate it, run from it, hide from it, or any other negative verb you might try.  Why though?

Life runs in cycles, or seasons.  Days begin and end.  Weeks start over and then come to an end.  Years even pass us by and we encounter new challenges and opportunities this year that we didn’t face the year before.  People you were friends with last year aren’t even in your life anymore.  That tattoo you got in college you now wish you had never gotten it.  Things change.  Things run in seasons.  Your being single is a season. 

Guess what?  God knows that you are single.  Guess what else?  He knows that you want to be married.  So, why doesn’t He send that special person?  I don’t know.  I’m sure He has His reasons.  Isaiah 55:8 guarantees He has His own reasons and that they probably won’t jive with our reasoning.  What I believe you need to do is to stop trying to fight His ways and manipulate around them and realize that you are single during this season and that God seems to be OK with that, so you should be OK with that as well. 

You can’t change it, so why fight it?!?!  Sure, you can force some issue and end up in a relationship that isn’t going to work out and then get hurt, and hurt the other person in the end, all the while wasting that period of time where you could be embracing God’s will for this season in your life.  Why would you want to do that though?  Because you know better than He does?  Come on, we know that’s not true. 

God has you where you are right now.  That means that you are supposed to be single right now.  Embrace it.  How?  Grow with Him.  Serve Him and other people.  Ask Him what He has for you to learn during this season and how you can be most effective for Him during this time.  Then work at it.  Not so you can learn these things and THEN it will lead to meeting “the one.”  Work at it so that you can learn more about Him and how you can become more like Him!  If you can’t be satisfied in Him, you will never be satisfied with anyone you end up marrying. 

Embrace this time.  Grow during this time.  Serve during this time.

Donny Mayo