Not Waiting 'til Marriage

If I were to make a list of my flaws, impatience would definitely top it. Waiting is not something I am good at, or enjoy. Then this summer, my Facebook newsfeed suddenly exploded into a Pinterest wedding board.

While I am overjoyed for all my friends who are recently engaged/married, I can't help but notice my blaring singleness in a sea of happy couples. I am an exception to the Christian College norm. How much longer am I going to have to wait to find love?

I've been living under the impression that I deserve a relationship. Why else would God give me this innate desire for marriage? Am I a failure?

Our individualistic culture has bought into the idea that marriage can bring ultimate fulfillment. For many, it is the climax of their happiness. The "first day of the rest of their life."

Marriage is good, but above all we should seek God.

I was pursuing fulfillment and self-worth through my relationships with others, rather than Christ. Often in the church we hear "be the woman God made you to be, focus on that, and then the husband will come." But what if the husband doesn't come?

Don't get sold on a deal, rather than a Savior.

Christ is indeed the source of all blessing, but He is not the magic solution to life's problems-

 He is life itself!

So for now, I'm single and content in it.

Because I've decided I'm not going to wait until marriage.

"Cease striving and know that I am God."- Psalm 46:10

Stop waiting for "The One". Do not put your life on hold. Each day is a gift. Seek joy and growth and opportunities to really live. With a man by my side or not, I want to wake up every morning madly in love with my Savior, Jesus Christ. Every day. For the rest of my life.

"I'd rather have the right God than the wrong man."- Christen Rapske

Set a Fire

Fires are a constant threat here in the forest- especially in the middle of a drought. 
Currently a large fire has expanded to about 2,800 acres, while several hundred other small fires were touched off by lightning. 

But contradictory to Smokey the Bear, I would argue that fire isn't always a bad thing. 
Fires have several very important functions in the life of the Sequoia Forest:
1) it prepares a seedbed
2) it cycles nutrients
3) it removes any excess vegetative growth
4) it removes the threat of insects and disease to the trees

But most importantly, without fire the Giant Sequoia seed would remain trapped. Green cones can live for up to twenty years with viable seeds inside. Fire dries out the cones, enabling them to crack open and sprinkle their seeds on the forest ground. 

Fire plays much the same role in our spiritual lives.

"Fire has a refining element. It is the essence of the Holy Spirit's work. When He comes in power, He also comes to burn up the sin in our lives. He comes with conviction, searching our motives, uprooting our unforgiveness, and shattering our pride."

The Parable of the Sower found in Matthew 13 is the perfect example of this. Our seed of faith faces many obstacles: 
1) hard soil
2) poor root system
3) choking weeds
4) being snatched away
All of which fire helps combat. Although it sometimes appears as a threat, we need the refining work of the Holy Spirit to protect us from other dangers and purify our lives, so that the Word of God may find a viable home in our heart and the seed of faith may take root.

"when anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart... he who has no root, endures for awhile and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the world immediately he falls away... As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful... As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold." - Matthew 13:18-23

"so set a fire down in my soul

that I can't contain and I can't control

I want more of You God,

I want more of You God."- Set a Fire