Ignition 7 Video Spark DevosSample

Does Everyone Have a Soul Mate? (part 2)

In part one, we discovered that romantically pursuing the person God has for us requires pursuing God first. We have to ask him and seek to live our lives according to his purpose. God is not trying to keep us from the desires of our heart—in fact, he will show us the way toward either romantic fulfillment or true contentment within a life of singleness. Either way, the answer comes from him.

In Genesis 24, Isaac and his wife, Rebekah, met through a sign from God. We won’t always get clear signs from God pointing the way—neon sign-style—toward our soul mates, but it’s clear that God is certainly interested in helping us find the right person.

Here’s the problem: it can be really, really tough to ask God for that special person… and then be stuck waiting for what seems like forever. This can be incredibly frustrating. Often we’re tempted to take matters into our own hands. We stop listening to God and start making poor dating and relationship choices.

Many of us know this cycle. Frustration and impatience leads to bad decisions. These decisions make us view ourselves as less than worthwhile. We start believing that now we’re too bruised, battered, and broken to be in godly relationships and we settle for relationships we know are not pleasing to God. Wrong.

If we will let him, God has a way of healing those broken, frustrated, callused parts of our lives that seem like roadblocks to finding our mates. Sure, this will often require us humbling ourselves, asking for forgiveness, and dealing with the consequences of our choices. But God will never abandon us in the messiest of processes.

So be patient. If you’ve made mistakes, no matter how big they are, don’t stop asking God to forgive you and heal you so you can listen for the next step… the right step.

Final note. In 1 Corinthians 7, the apostle Paul says that some people are, in fact, called to stay single. Most of the time, this kind of call from God is clear. Living as a godly single person has its own challenges and those who are called to it should be treated with as much respect as those who are seeking God’s will for marriage.

Either way, our worth does not begin with earthly relationships… it comes first from our relationship with God.