I've been thinking on this lately. I've found that when you actively give your life over to God's plan, He tends to eliminate the other alternatives you have to following His will so that you will be able to depend on Him more fully and readily. This does not mean you do not have a choice, it means He will make the right path more visible.
This is most apparent when you lose everything. You've left no stone unturned, tried every option, taken every opportunity. You feel like there's nowhere left to go. Then you realize God is there. He has been all along. He has just waited for this moment to make Himself known. He steps forward in this bleak and empty place, and He says, "You think you have exhausted every choice, that you have nowhere left to turn. You have done everything in your own power to accomplish your goals, but it has not worked. Are you ready for my power? You have searched everywhere for love, but the kind you need is nowhere to be found. Are you ready for my love? You need your soul to be satisfied, but you have only found emptiness. Are you ready for me to bring you satisfaction? You've run after sources of false fulfillment, and your strength is gone. Are you ready for my strength? You are sick and tired of life. Are you ready for me to give you a new life, one full of purpose? If you are, you have a new choice to make."
There are several times in a person's life that this can occur, several times you feel like you have run out of options and realize that, in spite of what our minds can comprehend, God has a plan. We have a limited viewpoint. We cannot see what lies around the corner. God does, and He is preparing you for it right now, if you will open your heart and let him.
In my life, I had become a little frustrated. Like most unmarried women, I had been looking at the "prospects" that were in my life. It seemed that I had run out of opportunities there. The ones I could be interested in liked someone else or were otherwise unavailable, and I had remarked to some of my female friends that it seemed like there was no one else in the world to meet. (Note: If my future spouse is among the guys I already know, then that's great, it just means that God has not revealed us to each other yet.) Then I stopped and thought about it, and I felt God was telling me, "You see so many "wrong ones" around you. Now are you ready to wait for Me to bring you the right one?"
"Yes, Lord, that would be fantastic. Tomorrow would be nice..."
But that's not how it works. Waiting on the Lord means waiting for however long He has determined without insisting on my timing. It means not trying to pursue or flirt with guys to get them interested. It means not saying "Okay, God, while you're bringing me my future spouse and all, I'm going to be over here hanging out with this guy, because he's kinda cute. And if you don't bring me my future spouse soon enough, I'll just marry him, okay?" It means waiting on God's leading to begin a relationship with someone whom you sincerely feel may be your future spouse.
I would love for my next relationship to be with my future husband (I say "next" because I've been through all this before). But that may not be what God has planned. I can be assured, however, that God will use anything that He places in my life as an opportunity for my growth. He already has. "God works everything out for good for those who love Him". Also, in the meantime, God wants you and me to grow and mature, and become people that our future spouses will want to marry. As singles, we have the opportunity for a season of growth unlike any other. We don't have to worry about pleasing our spouse and all of the other responsibilities that come with being married (or even in a relationship, they take a lot of time and work too.), we only have to please God. And also, if you take the time to develop a thriving relationship with God, the other relationships in your life will improve too, as you become more Christlike. So you see, if you surrender your plans to God, He will prepare both you and your future spouse, and then He will bring you together at the perfect time. If you give it to the Lord, you can marvel at His grand plans as they unfold and create something you would never have dreamed of, in all aspects of your life, not just this one.
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