Last time, I introduced the importance of theology in relation to how we think about our relationships (or lack thereof). Now let's look at some attributes of God to help us better trust God even in a time of undesired singleness.
God
is Sovereign
To
say that God is sovereign means that He exercises supreme power and control at
all times, in all situations, and over all things. I don’t have space here to
provide all the biblical evidence for this, but the clear testimony of the
Bible, from cover to cover, is that God supremely and powerfully rules over
everything. [1]
Nothing is outside of his control. Nothing!
Not even evil and suffering. Lamentations 3:37-38 shows God’s control over the
whole spectrum of life:
Who
has spoken and it came to pass,
unless the Lord has commanded it?
Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
that good and bad come?[2]
unless the Lord has commanded it?
Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
that good and bad come?[2]
My
guess is that if you have been a Christian for any length of time that you have
come to believe this fact about God. However, I wonder if you have functionally
failed to apply this truth to your relationship status. Perhaps it comes out in
a thought that wonders if you are still single because you missed that last singles’
event. I’m not suggesting we have no responsibility when it comes to finding a
spouse; I am saying that God is sovereign over our current relationships and lack thereof.
Now,
if we just ended our discussion of God here we would have a truncated
understanding of Him. We would also probably fall into fatalism instead of
trusting God. But, the Bible shows us that God’s sovereignty is not the same as
fatalism, because God is also good and wise in His exercise of His sovereignty.
This is part of the series God, Singleness, and Marriage: How the Bible Gives Purpose and Direction to Singles.
[1]
A good study on this topic is found in Jerry Bridges’ book Trusting God Even When Life Hurts.
[2]
While God is not to blame for evil, He, nonetheless, is sovereign over it. That
is a good thing. If God were not in control then we would have no reason to believe
His promises, for they might at any moment be overcome by Satan’s evil plots.
But, as we see in the first chapter of the book of Job, God rules even over
Satan. As we see at the cross, God rules even over the greatest act of human
evil, namely the crucifixion of the perfect Son of God (see Acts 2:23, which shows
the guilt of the people and the sovereignty of God).
Copyright Ben Khazraee. You may share this article with others, but please direct them to this blog rather than posting the text to your own website, blog, etc. You may share printed copies with friends as long as you do not charge more than the cost of producing the copies.
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