Delight Despite Delay

📸: Vladimir Yelizarov

There's a temptation that comes after you've searched & yearned for your soulmate for years. There's a likelihood for you to compromise on certain things & values, just so you can accommodate someone you really like or might even be in love with. There's a clear line of boundary that gets blurred when we're running out of patience & biological time. There's a logic behind wanting to reduce our standards just so we can settle down quickly, marry and start a family.

In all these things, near truths will always be detrimental to the complete will of GOD for our lives. There's something we struggle to remember when faced with challenges that affect & influence our hearts and ultimately our decision making; and it's simply this: "what did GOD say?". I can't imagine being close to your 30's and not having figured out what your life should be like & not even having a partner to figure out life with. I mean, I'm a 36 year old single Nigerian man who GOD has called into ministry to do things that aren't for the faint hearted, and who's still trying to figure out life day-by-day; and when those external voices that try to get me to lower my standards for a spouse or try to get me to stop praying as much as I do arise, I run swiftly to what GOD has said concerning my marriage, my ministry and my life, and I stay there!

Can I be honest with you? A lot of us go outside the will of GOD in search of "fulfillment", but those things never last long. The fact that marriage or even dating someone isn't quite happening as you'd have hoped at the moment, doesn't mean GOD is unfaithful or that it's never going to happen. On the contrary, waiting on GOD — trusting in His ways, His processes & His timing, is a clear indicator that you truly believe all that GOD has spoken over you. Marriage is a beautiful thing to look forward to, but it shouldn't take the place of GOD in our hearts. Our inability to wait on GOD's promises is likened to rebellion, just as in the garden of Eden & in the wilderness when the children of Israel built a golden calf because they couldn't wait for Moses to return from the presence of GOD.

📸: Vladimir Yelizarov

Funny thing is, in waiting, your expectations are fine-tuned; they become clearer & much more defined. I've come to realize that waiting is part of the preparation process. Just because other people are getting married in their early 20’s, doesn't mean you getting married when you're a bit older makes yours invalid or less than. The enemy makes us compare ourselves with other people, forgetting that everyone's destiny is different. All fingers aren't equal and our journeys through life varies on assignment, paths & impact. The mere fact that your joy is being sapped because you aren't in a relationship or married yet, should tell you that the enemy is trying to manipulate your emotions and get you to rebel against GOD by not trusting that He who has promised, is faithful to do all that He said He'll do. We can't claim to trust GOD & be full of worry or anxiety. In whom do we trust? In whose authority do we claim to be under?

I genuinely wanted to write about what I desire in a life partner and how it's important to make the right choice as it relates to the call of GOD upon my life, but as I began writing, the burden of emphasis shifted to trust...yet again. GOD can be trusted with our lives, but it's up to us to encourage ourselves in The LORD, else we'll fall prey to the lies & emotional onslaught of the enemy. Love will certainly find us, and I pray that when it does, may love find us ready & equipped for the responsibilities that come with it; because with love comes battles and with battles come scars that sometimes never heal completely. So choose your battles wisely as you choose your life partner 🙏🏽

— With Love, From Love 💖