It is only God’s wisdom that can understand how someone as beautiful and talented as Tessa Shockey chose to write today about her singleness.
I’ve known Tessa as a little girl, yet today I’m blessed to call her my friend. I learn from her every time the Father grants us a few moments together.
No matter your situation, God will speak to you today through her post – I know He did me.
———————-
“Every time I open Facebook, I see photos of newly engaged, newly wed or expecting friends.
These photos always bring joy, smiles and “likes.” In the hard moments, they bring anxiety.
Will there be photos like these in store for me in the future?
I am 25 and single. I love the single life and enjoying the journey God has me on.
I’ve just returned from serving for three years in Asia. This June, I embark on the next journey – working with a global media team to write the stories of God’s faithful servants. I am more than thrilled for the upcoming journey.
I’m most likely entering into another three years of singleness. I’m OK with this. I do worry though — what if it is a lifetime?
The past six months, God has been placing a prayer on my heart, a prayer to trust Him.
Trust me, God has been telling me. Don’t worry, He says.
Trust me, he continues, even when it is hard, when there is no man in sight and when it seems like you could be single to your deathbed.
Trust. I am reminded of this as I lay in bed at night. I’m reminded to not worry when certain songs come on the radio. I was reminded today as I ran down the country dirt road near my grandmother’s house.
I would never put God’s plan for me on hold – I’d never stay in the U.S., just with the hopes of finding a husband.
Someone once told me that finding your mate would be similar to running a race.
You’re running in a race, fixed on the prize. You look over, and there is another guy, running in the same direction and with the same end goals. You then decide to run the race together and keep moving toward the finish line.
I’m choosing to keep running on the path He has me on – I’m not stopping on the sideline, waiting for an attractive runner to come by and then jump back in the race.
God is asking me to trust Him. Recently, and randomly, I’ve been telling Him, “I trust you.”
As a child, I used to walk down to the dirt road near my grandmother’s house and squat and draw pictures with my fingers in the loose dirt. I recently squatted on the same road and etched “I trust You” into the dirt. Just under it, I wrote, “I surrender my worry.”
The thing about writing in the sand is that it isn’t permanent. With the next rain or gusty wind, it’s gone. It’s the same with trust and surrendering worry. It has to be said more than once. Worry returns with the news of the next engaged friend. Trusting wavers when the road of singleness seems never ending.
That’s why today, four months from the first time, I wrote, “I trust You,” once again in the dirt.
I am laying my singleness on the altar. Abraham laid his son on the altar.
I cannot imagine what Abraham went through on that long hike up Mount Moriah and as he laid his son on the altar. God asked him to sacrifice his son. In releasing what he loved the most, he told God he trusted him. God didn’t allow him to kill his son – He gave back that which Abraham surrendered.
I am running forward, willing to sacrifice, like Abraham was, and I know that His plans for me are better than any I could concoct on my own. I’m continuing to trust and surrender my worry.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future,” Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)
—————–