Hang on

I (Jess) am so happy to be back on the blog with y'all !!! I am the single one of the bunch, and today I am just going to share with you all what God has been teaching me about trusting in him, which has helped my relationship with the Lord grow tremendously. I am learning that being single is not the easiest boat to be in because lets face it we all desire to be loved. I have learned that the key is to always put God first in your life, and do not fill your heart with anything but his love. That can be hard because as humans we desire to be accepted and loved by someone who is tangible. Very often, we turn our focus off of God because we want to feel loved by people that can give us a hug/kiss, audibly speak to us, spend quality time with us, and the list goes on and on. If you constantly seek satisfaction in what is to come you are missing out on so much when we do not fully trust that God's love is enough to quench our desire, in the book of Jeremiah we find a promise that changes everything for the better, " For I know the plans that I have for you" declares the Lord, "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future of hope." We should all rest assured in that promise, and continue on being completely content every day, but it's not that easy is it? It takes work to trust completely in the Lord.

Before I was walking with the Lord and pursuing a relationship with Him, my mindset was not focused on Him, instead I was determined to quench my desire for love through a relationship with a guy. I was the girl who always had a boyfriend.  I was WAY too dependent on those past relationships for satisfaction. I did not know who I was in Christ; so therefore, I made my image in the shadow of my relationship with a guy. The truth is that there is no guy that can fully satisfy any loneliness, sadness, brokenness that you may be feeling, but Jesus can take care of it all and show love to you. I knew that Jesus wanted to care for and express His to love me, but I continued to put him on the back burner because I was living for what brought immediate comfort. However, my plan for a quick fix to my thirsting desire for love always left me empty and lonely. I was missing the one real and true relationship, that could fulfill my feelings of loneliness, sadness, and brokenness.

 I knew that God was pushing me to let go and let Him take control of my life, but I was scared to leave the relationship. Finally, after God did some major pushing on my heart  I  let go.

Since then it has been quite a journey, only because I did not completely turn to God after the breakup. I began to try to seek out other relationships none of which turned into anything. 

EVEN THOUGH I DID NOT TURN TO GOD, HE STILL KEPT ME AWAY FROM THE DANGER OF FALLING INTO ANOTHER UNHEALTHY RELATIONSHIP !!! 

THAT IS GRACE.

After many hardships that I faced in my life due to my own poor choices, I  completely surrendered to God.  I admitted that I could no longer face the journey alone. 

I was weak.

I had to take responsibility for my life.

I let go of all my regrets, fears, and burdens and LET GOD take full control.

God began making it clear that He wanted to start rebuilding our relationship, and I acknowledged that no guy could fill my heart the way Jesus Christ was filling me up. 

Some of you do not have stories anything like mine. Many of you have kept your life on the righteous path for quite sometime now, but you are still waiting for the Lord to bring the guy into your life, right ? I know how tough waiting can be for us, but you are waiting for a reason and God is going to bless you for being obedient and faithful to Him.


Don't lose hope, and this is the reason why,
"O Lord, how long will you forget me? FOREVER?
How long will you look the other way?
How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul,
with sorrow in my heart every day?
How long will the enemy have the upper hand ?


  [here is the key]


But I trust in your unfailing love.
I will rejoice because you have rescued me.
I will sing to the Lord
because he is good to me."


Psalm 13:1-2, 5-6

If you dwell on what is missing in your life then you are not showing that you trust God because you are seeking another relationship to satisfy your thirst for love. You must focus your thoughts on Jesus when your heart and mind grow weary and tired of waiting because there is no need in seeking the "right guy" when God has promised us good. Also, remember that trying make a relationship work out the way you want and force it into play is only going to set you back further; so therefore, just hang onto your faith very tightly, and trust that God has not forgotten about you or the amazing guy that you will be with one day. You will be amazed with what he can do in your life when you let go of your own desires and let him fill you with his unfailing love.

If you are single right now and waiting just know that you will be ready for the relationship because you gave God time to prepare your heart. There will be no doubt about how to incorporate Christ into the center of the relationship because you both will have waited on each other, which means you both have put your trust in God to bring you together. Your trust in Him will be deeply rooted in that relationship, which will be be most solid foundation that that you could ever ask for !!
 the love that you both have for Jesus will be amazing--HANG ON, sweet girls !!!

Keep turning your thoughts to Jesus, and focusing on the present with solid assurance in God's timing for your future man! Your day is coming but you have to trust in THE ONE relationship that matters the most ! 


With love,
Jess

Who to trust in a relationship

Good morning, sweet friends!  I am so excited that we are starting a new series today!  We learned a lot through our nine weeks studying the fruits of the spirit and I hope you did, too!

This series will be a little bit different, but I think that you guys will really be able to keep up a little better than last time.  You can expect two posts a week for the next four weeks, and we will be talking all about different aspects of relationships! 

Don’t lose me here, single girls!  I promise that you can gain something from this series and WE promise not to completely leave you out!

This week Jessica and I (Nicole) will be talking about one of the most important aspects of a relationship.  Trust.

When I began to think about this topic, a lot of different posts filled my mind.  You could write a million different books on this one topic, but I decided to take the path less taken.  In order to truly and fully trust in the person you are with, you have to have greater trust.  A trust in the Lord.

This is a lesson that I’m in the middle of learning even as I type this.  My boyfriend has just graduated from college, he is in the process of finding a job, our relationship has become long distance, and I’m working to keep my head above the water in my sixth semester of college.  Things have become much different for us in the past few weeks and I’d be lying if I said that I haven’t worried.

What if he can’t find a job?

What if I don’t do well this semester?

What if we have problems now that we don’t see each other every day?

There are so many “what ifs” that I have that my boyfriend simply cannot answer.  He doesn’t know when a job will be available or when we will be able to get married.  When I place all my trust into him, I come out lacking.  Lacking answers, lacking assurance, and overflowing with doubt.  When I place this kind of trust in him I end up disappointed.  Why?

Because he isn’t who I should be placing my trust in.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.” Proverbs 3:5

I think this verse is ultimately saying that the Lord is the only one who we can whole heartedly place every ounce of our trust.  Not only should we not depend on our own understanding, but we shouldn’t place so much trust in another human’s understanding, either. 

As much as we struggle with wanting to know what’s next or what is going to happen down the road, only the Lord can make that known.  No amount of trust in a man is going to make that clear.  The very next verse in Proverbs 3 says “seek his will in all you do and he will make your paths straight.”

Well, look at that.  When we seek His face, we are right on track with where we should be.

I am learning to trust the Lord first with my relationship.  When I lay my relationship and all my questions about it at his feet, I am able to rest in his peace.  I can take all the pressure off my boyfriend by trusting the Lord for my answers instead of Him.

Lord, help us to keep our eyes and our trust fixed on you.  You alone can know the desires and deepest worries of our hearts.  Give us the courage to take a step of faith in trusting your plan for our lives and our relationships.  Teach us how to trust you before we trust any other and show us when we’re placing trust in man before we are placing trust in you.

Amen

Is this something you struggle with, too?  Here are some verses about trust to reflect on.

Psalm 18:2

Psalm 37:5

Psalm 118:8

Love you guys,

Nicole