The oversized wheels roll fast and then we’re weightless. Suddenly, the road is replaced with air as the wheels recoil. Ears pop, chairs recline, movies roll, eyes close, music plays, and attendants serve as our metal bird quickly moves up and over for endless miles transporting people both coming and going.
The once wonder of flying has somehow become mundane—a second home of sorts for world travelers.
Eagerness, excitement, and the all-too-familiar sadness are in my emotional queue for the next 24 hours. Our group is journeying halfway across the world for a week dedicated to improving our church planting methods. I think about my company for the trip and it’s truly stellar—every which way are men and women I love, respect, and delight in learning from.
A grin moves across my face. This is what makes my heart beat. This is where the reality of the not yet, already reality of eternity in the presence of God with worshipers from every nook and cranny of the world feels most real.
The flame that started long ago flickers a little bigger and brighter. In the next week, cultures will collide and my boxed in view of God is bound to be busted. His robe fills the temple anew—uncontainable and safe (Isaiah 6:1). Yet it’s in this same breath that the enemy highlights what seems to be the one thing God is withholding. As I mentally survey my travel companions, one thing is apparent—I’m the single one.
The all-too-familiar battle with the one set to steal, kill, and destroy rages as my mind floods with lies that God’s not good because of my marital status. If God loves me, why would He send me out alone … again?
Lie. Lie. Lie.
But maybe I’m really not alone because it’s around Valentine’s Day and you’ve heard this deceptive voice too. And maybe that same voice has left you wondering if you took Jesus’ whole “follow Me” thing a little lighter you’d be more desirable. Maybe if your calendar had more margin you’d have time to meet people. Maybe if you pursued a more local, social ministry with people your age you’d meet someone.
It’s here I’m hit with a better question: What do I really desire? The Giver or the gift? The latter leaves me wanting, the former leaves me satisfied.
And as my perspective shifts, I yearn to be satisfied because without Him the wanting never ceases. A spouse. Kids. Growing savings account. Fancy vacation. House with a white picket fence. Puppy. You name it, and I’m capable of wanting it, especially when waves of discontentment threaten to wash out the truth of who God is—a Father willing to send His Son to die in my place when I was stuck in sin (Romans 5:8).
It’s in understanding the depths of God’s love for me that the lies surrounding singleness fade and God’s truth prevails.
God is good and He only gives good gifts (Matthew 7:11). In His common grace, He satisfies the desires of all living things (Psalm 145:16). Singleness is good. Through the lens of Scripture, it’s not a secondhand status but a really, really good gift — just ask the Apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 7:7).
Though you may be tired of hearing these things, they remain true regardless of your feelings. It’s in recognizing the gift of this season—a season that may stay or pass—that you can live in the freedom and flexibility only available to you in singleness.
And I urge you, don’t tone down your faith. Don’t sell out in hopes of a different season that may never come. Live fully today, single friends. I know of a throng of people—over 3 billion of them—who desperately need to hear about the God who gives good gifts—the greatest of which is Jesus.
Maybe you’re the one He intends to reach them through.
Now that’s a gift worth wanting.