Most of you are familiar with this famous passage of Scripture:
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6)
I can hear some of your thoughts now, “I know. I know. How many times do I have to hear that Scripture?” But even though you may have heard it, and may even know it by heart, have you really received it?
When I think of the word, “trust,” I think of an absolute confidence in. I have
absolute confidence in the fact that when I enter a movie theater and have a seat,
the seat won’t break underneath me. I trust so much that I don’t even bother to check
and make sure it’s firmly affixed to the floor. If I did folks would probably look at
me like I was crazy, because they trusted so much that they, too, sat right in their
seats without thinking about it twice as well.
The word, “trust” in the original Greek of this passage of Scripture means,
“batach,” which means to be confident, bold, or sure. As single believers, we must
learn to be confident, bold, and sure in the Lord about everything.
The Scripture also admonishes us to trust in the Lord with all of our heart. Not
just part of our heart. Not just one part which says, “I trust you Lord,” while
the other part says, “but what if I never get married?” or, “what if I never meet
the right one for me since the odds are stacked against me?” or, “what if I get
too old and men would no longer find me attractive?” These heart confessions are
filled with fear which is contrary to faith, belief, and trust. And we know that
God is not the author of fear, but that He is the author and finisher of our faith.
The second part of the verse 5 says, …and lean not unto thine own understanding.
The Message Bible states in its translation:
…don’t try to figure out everything on your own.
Don’t try and figure out why you’re still single while getting yourself all stressed
out and blood pressure rising because you feel your time is running out or your
biological clock is ticking. Sometimes we put ourselves in such a rut feeling sorry
for ourselves – thinking we must not be wife material – or, “if only i looked a
certain way i would be married by now,” – or, “if only I lived in a different city
I would be married by now,” – or, “if only i went to a different church i would be
married by now,” – and on and on and on…
Instead of chasing a man, we should be focused on chasing God and the perfect will
of God for our lives.
This is not to say that there is anything wrong with desiring a mate; we just have to
be careful not to allow our “desire” to turn into an anxiety or care, because God
wants us to cast all of our cares on Him. He bore all of our cares for us when He died on
the cross. (Isaiah 53:5)
He wants us to be content where we are right now in our current station in life, and
He wants us to celebrate the birth, death, and resurrection of His Son, Jesus, not
just on Resurrection Sunday (aka Easter), but every day of our lives.
He wants to resurrect our joy. He wants to resurrect our peace. Jesus died so that we
might have joy, and that our joy might be full – whether we’re single or married.
(John 15:11)
So instead of asking yourself if you’re really trusting God for a mate, instead ask
yourself if you’re really trusting God with your life.