The word \u201cwait\u201d is one of the few words in the English language that can cause so much anxiety, fear, trepidation, and frustration. Because we want what we want when we want it, the word wait can easily begin to feel like the word \u201cnever\u201d\u2014especially when you are single and attempting to live a lifestyle compatible with your faith.<\/p>\n
Yet, the word wait, in some context, appears over 100 times in the Bible, the book every Christian single should strive to live by.<\/p>\n
So what do you do while you wait on your soul mate? First, understand what waiting means in the context of Christian dating: \u201cdelaying action until a particular time\u201d. That means \u201cGuard your heart, for it is the well-spring of life.\u201d Dating is not <\/em>synonymous with depression, stagnation or desperation. Don\u2019t go out falling in love with anyone who is paying you attention; delay action until the particular time comes when you know God is speaking to you about a certain person. \u201cDo not awaken love\u201d until He<\/em> pleases.<\/p>\n Second, singles must remember that though they don\u2019t have a \u201cbetter half,\u201d they have still been created to be completely whole people. Other people do not complete you\u2014God does! You are a full person, full of purpose that the Church and the world needs!<\/p>\n According to scripture, singleness is the perfect time to identify your purpose and thrive in it. Many people question, \u201cWhat is my purpose?\u201d Your purpose is always connected to your passion, and process. What have you been through that can help someone else? For example, David\u2019s wilderness process included him wrestling with lions and bears. But, it was that process that prepared him for a great purpose, defeating Goliath.<\/p>\n Like David slaying Goliath, many great accomplishments in ministry have been achieved by singles. In 1 Corinthians 7, the Apostle Paul says, \u201cWhen you\u2019re unmarried, you\u2019re free to concentrate on simply pleasing the Master. Marriage involves you in all the nuts and bolts of domestic life and in wanting to please your spouse, leading to so many more demands on your attention. The time and energy that married people spend on caring for and nurturing each other, the unmarried can spend in becoming whole and holy instruments of God.\u201d Paul admonishes singles to get busy in the matters concerning the Church and their own spiritual growth.<\/p>\n Each single has to define what this should look like to them. Does this mean volunteering in children\u2019s church? Starting an international outreach ministry? Joining the usher board or choir?<\/p>\n While life for the Christian single should be ministry filled, it doesn\u2019t have to stop there. In addition to ministry work, why not write the book you\u2019ve always dreamed of, travel to foreign lands, start a business, join a civic organization? Get busy becoming who you are supposed to be!<\/p>\n Time is often a luxury many people wish for, yet as a single person, you have more of. Use that time to pursue your dreams, and develop yourself, and learn who you are and who you want to be. Often times, we keep choosing \u201cthe wrong one,\u201d because we don\u2019t know who the right one is because we don\u2019t know who we are. Once you know yourself, among other things, you are able to properly identify what you need in a mate. While God can deliver your soul mate anywhere, your spouse-to-be may have an easier time identifying you if you are out living the life of your dreams.<\/p>\n Lastly, stop looking at every person as your potential spouse. They could be a potential business partner, great friend, career adviser, confidante, accountability partner, work out partner, business associate or more. But, you won\u2019t be able to see that if your only filter is, \u201cIs this my soul mate?\u201d Maybe. Maybe not. Just value people for who they are, not who they could be to you.<\/p>\n Enjoying your life in your singleness is not the same as sinning; know your boundaries and thrive within them. This way, waiting won\u2019t seem like some kind of punishment, but instead you\u2019ll recognize it as an incredible gift to grow yourself and your faith in the Lord.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The word \u201cwait\u201d is one of the few words in the English language that can cause so much anxiety, fear, trepidation, and frustration. Because we want what we want when we want it, the word wait can easily begin to feel like the word \u201cnever\u201d\u2014especially when you are single and attempting to live a lifestyle […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":29949,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[225],"tags":[219,189,248,14,72,80,153,169],"ppma_author":[845],"class_list":["post-22611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life-advice","tag-choir","tag-church","tag-scripture","tag-spiritual-growth","tag-stories-of-faith","tag-stories-of-hope","tag-travel","tag-winter"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n