On Being Single
Yesterday evening I was watching a “Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman” movie in which her husband, Sully, goes to all lengths to rescue her from a Mexican prison where she is being held as she awaits execution. I had a one-minute “pity party” in which I thought, “No man I’ve known would go to those lengths for me. They would let me stay there.” I say one minute, but the pity party probably didn’t last that long. The other day I shared a post on Facebook that stated, “I’m Not Single—I Have a Relationship With God.” Amen, amen, amen! Not long before he died, a gentleman let me know that he had been in love with me since grade school, did I remember him buying me the single “Mrs. Brown You’ve Got A Lovely Daughter” and that he would ride his bicycle from the other side of town to go past my house to catch a glimpse of me. I was stunned. He had even watched as I cruised the hamburger stands in my 20’s. It’s during these revelations we ask ourselves, “Why didn’t—-“ or “What if—?” Even as we go through our singleness, making mistake after mistake, God is busy making plans, actively at work in and around the messes of our lives. You see, we look at our lives and see messes, but God looks at them and sees ways to reach others for His Kingdom. We look at our lives and see aloneness, but God looks at our lives and anticipates a wondrous relationship with us. We don’t need a Sully to rescue us from our prisons. God can take any prison of our own making and pluck us from it, washing us in His redeeming blood, unlocking the fetters of our shattered and sinful hearts, making our lives into part of His eternal plan. I have learned that being single is a blessing in as much as I have surrendered to God. Sully can rescue Dr. Quinn all he needs to. I have been freed from prison by the Master of the Universe. Now, that is a true love story!
abundantlypardoned 