Can we skip to the good part?

 

I think that everyone would have heard the audio on a reel somewhere that has this line, “can we skip to the good part?”.

We see someone in a certain setting, possibly in untidy work clothes, and then the audio plays, the hand goes up, palm facing outwards and voila! everything changes.

But life isn’t really like that is it?

We can’t magically say the words and life is suddenly just how we want it.

Can I speak to the readers today who are single? Sit with me just a minute. Please, stop what you’re doing. Put aside the distractions and pay attention to what I have to say.

Right. Are you ready?

I want to tell you that it’s okay if you’re single. It’s okay if you’re not in a relationship right now. It’s okay if you’re not married and running around after little ones.

What you are doing in your season of singleness matters. You are not less important. You are not less impactful. You have purpose. You have value to God.

Your singleness has a purpose.

Okay, so you may be sitting there saying, “It’s easy for you to say. You’re married. You married young, had babies that grew into adults, they married and now you even have grandkids!”

Well, yes, that is true. And I praise God regularly for the way he planned my seasons and the blessings he showers upon me. But there is no reason that you can’t live content in your current season, eagerly but patiently waiting for God to bring along the right someone for you in his perfect timing.

I have 2 daughters, unmarried, still living at home. I love them dearly and not wanting to embarrass them, but keeping it real, I know that they desire to be married and have their own families. But I am so proud of them for the way they are living out their current season of life and the maturity they show in their level of contentment while all around them their friends are falling in love and getting married, embarking on new seasons of adventure.

It is a good thing to desire a partner in life. It is a good thing to want children and a home to share with those you love. But it is even better to desire, above all else, to chase after God with a devoted heart, sincerely wanting what he desires for you.

Can I let you in on a little secret? Did you know that there are many things that you can do as a single person that you can’t do once married? And when children come along, the dynamic changes once again and there are other limitations.

Don’t get me wrong. You can serve the Lord and minister with a life partner and children, but there are things that can be done in your service to the Lord that he knows are best done single.

I want to encourage you that right now matters.

Where you find yourself tomorrow starts with what you choose today.

The choices you make today will affect your tomorrows.

The Bible tells us that there is a season for everything.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 KJV - To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

Did you know that seasons are part of God’s grand design? They are part of his design for the earth. Winter. Spring. Summer. Fall. But seasons are also part of his design for you and me. Joy and sorrow. Struggle and peace. Highs and lows. Birth and loss. Singleness and marriage.

We all go through seasons. And everyone’s season is different.

But no matter what season we find ourselves in, we can be sure of one thing. God is not absent. He is always there. And if you are one of his children, he is ever present, ever caring, and always aware of your circumstances, your passions and your hearts desires and he has your best interests at heart.

Do you know what I love about the word season? It implies that it is a time that will pass. It’s just a season. It may be a season of waiting. But it will pass. The sun will rise, the flowers will bloom once again, the clouds will disappear, and the tough season won’t last forever.

Our seasons have a purpose.

If you find yourself in a season of singleness. You’re tired of the waiting. You just want clarity and direction. Maybe you are being pressured to be in a relationship. Maybe you are being made to feel less of a person because you don’t have family to care for.

Did you know that God is as much here in this season as he will be in the next season?

He has not deserted you now and he won’t desert you then.

You have to learn to recognize his hand in the midst of what you’re walking through, whether it’s what you desire or not. You have to make a choice to be content.

I once read a quote that really stuck with me and convicted me at a time when I had lost my joy and contentment.

“If you cannot find happiness, joy, peace, and contentment in the Lord with what He has already done for you in your present- then you will probably not be able to find it with whatever He will want to do for you in your future, since you will always be looking for that next, new, big thing that you think will make you happy, content, and fulfilled.”

If you don’t work on being content today, with the season God has you in right now, then how do you expect to be content in the future?

You don’t have to waste your current season. It can be put to good use.

Don’t try and speed up the waiting season. There are many examples in Scripture where people tried to get ahead of God, and it didn’t go very well. Think about Sarah. Think about Saul.

There are benefits to waiting on God’s timing. Let me share with you two passages found in the Old Testament that will be an encouragement to you.

Lamentations 3:25 KJV - The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.

Isaiah 64:4 KJV - For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.

These verses remind us that God has good things in store for us when we wait on him. I love that in Isaiah we are told that we can’t even fathom or imagine what he has in store for us when we wait.

I think of many young people in years gone by who have settled for less than God’s best, simply because they were afraid of missing out.

They jumped into marriage thinking that if they didn’t take the opportunity, they might never get the chance again, only to find themselves in a loveless relationship, crumbling beneath them.

Loneliness is real and it is painful. And it often drives people to make foolish choices to try and fill the void. But loneliness is not a place. It’s a state of mind. It’s a state of mind that impacts the soul and the peace that is desired.

Loneliness is not dependent upon a relationship status. You can be lonely whether you are single or married, divorced or widowed. Loneliness is not a respecter of persons.

The good news is that your loneliness is seen by God.

You are never alone.

You are significant.

You are unconditionally accepted.

You are unconditionally loved.

Just as God met Hagar in her time of distress (Genesis 16) leading her to find out that he really was El Roi, “the God who sees”, he will meet you.

If you are in a waiting season of singleness, desiring to find someone that will love and cherish you forever, don’t lower the bar. Don’t lower your standards. Don’t lower your expectations. Don’t force the door open too soon.

Wait on God.

Waiting on God doesn’t mean doing nothing. It is more of an active stillness.

You need to be busy serving in your local church and community. You need to stay productive in the work of the Lord. You need to be in tune with God, walking in obedience to him, listening for his voice, faithfully serving him in any way you can.

You need to be in the Word. Study it. Meditate on it. Memorize it. Share it.

You can’t just ‘skip to the good part’. Good things take time to flourish and grow. They need to develop a good root system. They need watering. They need sunlight. They need time.

You need time. You need to go through the hard seasons to purify you and make you more like Christ. You need time to learn contentment so that when the trials come in days to come, you will be ready to face them with a heart full of faith and a deep-seated trust in the Lord.

Stop waiting for someday to arrive. Don’t sit idle. Take the next step with what you’ve already been given and live your days with a purpose and a zeal for God that shines light into this dark world we live in.

Don’t waste your singleness. Use it to bring glory to God. Today.

Start where you are right now because this moment matters.