The Perfect Match

The Perfect Match

“So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel [as his wife], but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.”

-Genesis 29:20 NIV

You might be wondering if God has made your perfect match. It seems like the months and years get longer of being ‘single’ and feeling alone. I know so many people of all ages from their 20s to 60s praying God can just drop down their perfect match. They go on date after date, may even sleep with person after person, and have dealt with heartbreak after heartbreak. What I like to call that is looking for love in all the WRONG places.

We all desire love but sometimes we get caught up in settling for lust. We love finding a partner who is physically fit, has a good education, decent morals, and possibly even a Christian. That sounds perfect, doesn’t it? Now what happens if you find all of that and it still doesn’t work out? This must mean you’re meant to stay alone and unhappy. This must mean that everything satan is whispering in your ear about your imperfections are true. Trusting God is a lot less work than trying to change yourself in order to compensate based off of comparisons to others.

It could also just mean this—God is love. (1 John: 4:8) He IS love. The scripture doesn’t state that God is like love, or can remind you of love, it says that He IS love. That means to find love, real love, it comes through Him. Therefore, wouldn’t it make sense to go Him to fulfill the desires of your heart?

In Philippians 4:6 it tells us, “Be anxious about nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God”. Tell God what you need. Make your petition known. He wants you to come to Him about everything in every area of your life so He can help you. Don’t let the enemy talk you into thinking there’s something wrong with you or that you do not deserve your perfect half. He wants you to feel defeated and abandoned, but God has better plans for you; plans to prosper.

These plans might not be in the timing you expect but He’s never promised that. God’s timing is perfect. Never too early, and never too late. The Word tells us there’s a specific time for everything. (Ecclesiastes 3:1) Maybe you’re where you need to be and God is still busy working on building your partner up for you. Don’t be discouraged if what you’re looking for doesn’t come in your timing. Instead, go to God, explain to Him the desires of your heart, and be encouraged that He’s got it all under control.

Fill' er Up!

Fill’er Up!

“As the deer pants [longingly] for the water brooks,

So my soul pants [longingly] for You, O God.”

-Psalm 42:1 AMP

Imagine you were wandering in a desert and desperately needed a glass of water. Why do you think the psalmist chose this picture to illustrate his longing for God?

Your physical body is a real thing. You bang into something, your flesh bruises. Place your hand out in front of you. You see it, correct? That is your physical body. Along with the physical, you have a spirit. That is what differentiates what’s right and what’s wrong. When you die, your physical bones and flesh stay on this earth and separates from your spirit, which either goes to heaven or hell.

Now let’s get back to the Psalm. If you’ve ever been extremely dehydrated then you would know after awhile you grow weak, tired, discouraged, and you just want to collapse somewhere because of exhaustion. You may even suffer from a migraine or other symptoms that make your body not feel right. You need to drink! You need to fill your body up with water so you can continue to function and operate comfortably. When you drink after being dehydrated it almost feels like a wilting flower coming back to life. You get your strength back. The headache disappears and you feel like you can go about your day with the proper energy to take on what’s ahead. You feel rejuvenated.

Well here's the thing—your spirit is exactly the same way. It needs to be filled! Ask yourself:

·      Am I growing more easily discouraged these days?

·      Am I growing more easily irritated these days?

When you don’t fill your spirit up with the Word, with the reminder of God’s promises, it’s easier to feel discouraged. It’s easier to get tired and run down to the point of just wanting to give up. Your spirit is dehydrated & you need to cater to it the same way you do to your physical body.

It just so happens that we notice the result of things that happen to our physical body quicker than our spirit. However both are real, extremely important, and can easily be affected. When players go out to play football, they wear protective gear in order to protect themselves. It’s harder to go about your day when you’re sore and beat up, possibly injured. It’s not impossible, but why choose the struggle when you can go about feeling rejuvenated?

Our spirit has protective gear as well; it’s the armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18). It’s not impossible to get through life without protecting it. However, why choose the struggle of feeling defeated, not good enough, worthless, confused, lost, and the list goes on? If you feed your spirit and protect it daily, you will notice a significant difference as you remember to walk in Christ. You will take on every task with victory!