I am sharing over at Velvet Ashes today!
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I attended a college where “a ring by spring or your money back” wasn’t just a joke. Several weeks into the school year it would inevitably happen: couples started pairing off after connecting in class or through a brother/sister floor event. Pretty soon they would be meeting over coffee and tater tots in the back room of the cafeteria for pre-class Bible study, sitting next to each other in chapel, and attending the Winter Formal together. As the snow finally went away and the smells of small-town Midwest filled the air, happy announcements abounded and diamonds twinkled on left hands throughout campus.Somehow I ended up living in a dorm and on a floor where this was more the exception than the rule. I was totally okay with that, but the topic of singleness found its way into many a late-night conversation over popcorn and M & M’s. “Will I ever get my ring?” we asked each other. “How long do I have to wait?”
As I attended a Christian college, there were plenty of quick, reassuring responses that most often were somewhat based on Scripture. “Trust God,” the older and wiser commanded. The verse that seemed on everyone’s minds and lips was this, from Psalm 37:4: “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart”. Interpretation: You just have to delight in God and when you’ve done that, He’ll give you the desire of your heart (namely, a husband in this instance).
I was rather skeptical of this advice that put the power of change firmly in my court, wondering how I was supposed to know when I would reach that magic level of delighting in God that would cause Him to nudge Mr. Right out from hiding and in my direction.
I thought I loved God. I read my Bible every day, even after late nights of studying, I went to church on Sundays, I went to chapel almost every day even when I had built up enough credits. I truly desired a relationship with God that was more than just outward actions. This concept of delighting enough continued to puzzle me after graduation and along the path of preparation for a life overseas as one of the biggest desires in my heart still remained unfulfilled.
Continue reading at Velvet Ashes.
A Heart Like His 