On Tuesday, I spent the day with two of my favorite sisters in Christ (cheesy, but they deserve the title), and together we listened to a preach by Francis Chan and got to hear from God. It was amazing, we prayed through it and worked out practical steps to made sure we did something about what we'd heard, however we all also had a line of thought in common. At some point it had flitted through all of our heads, 'I hope my husband will be like this'. Listening to Francis Chan speak about his desire to reach the lost, his honesty and integrity, the way in which he was walking with Jesus, we all recognised qualities in him which we respected and admired.
It's very easy to hear somebody like Francis Chan and think 'I hope my husband will be like that', but I later wondered if it was partly an excuse used by girls to stop us radically living out the gospel? We wait for a guy who can lead us spiritually, rather than looking towards Jesus, our true guide. Sometimes we fall into waiting for a guy who can show us how to be part of building God's kingdom, who can push us out of our comfort zone and into living like salt and light, but Jesus already offers to do all those things in us. Of course I would like to marry someone who sees miracles, salvations, serves the poor and loves his God, but I don't want to miss out on these experiences myself! What's the point in getting excited about relationships, if we're not first excited to discover the joys and hardships of the adventure that comes from following Christ?
At my church's women's conference, one speaker said she felt that women were often unconsciously waiting for permission to do things, and challenged us to give ourselves permission. At the time, I wasn't convinced, yet thinking about it, I love my God, and I love spending time in His presence, yet how often have I actively and individually pursued that? And how often do I wait for permission first? Or act, and then check with others to make sure 'it's okay' for me to do that? Jesus made a way to live every day with Him, to experience Him in every moment, so why all this waiting? Reading and hearing stories about people who are seeing amazing things happen in Jesus' name, and thinking 'one day that'll be my life' just isn't good enough anymore, it doesn't satisfy. Only Jesus can. “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."
In the same way, no relationship can ever satisfy your soul like a relationship with the One who made you can. God wants us to be in relationship with Him before we can even begin to learn how to relate to others, and if we want a guy who has truly died to himself and lives only for God, then surely we must also discover that call ourselves.
