Week 10: Man's Rejection is God's Protection

Scripture to reflect upon: Hebrews 13:5

Be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

When I first got saved back in 1998, my heart still carried a deep desire to be married. Dating in the Christian world can be just as frustrating and confusing as dating in the world, I soon discovered. I found myself longing for one guy after the other. Those needs, those desires, those patterns never changed within me.

I found myself in a dating nightmare all over again, only this time with men of God, which made matters seem so much worse. I brought this up to the woman who led me to Christ, and she had this saying that I still use to this day for a variety of issues:

“Man’s rejection is God’s protection.”

Because God’s Word promises He will never leave or forsake you, you can be confident that every time He closes a door in your relationships that He has your best interest at heart. When you can focus on this small concept and really let it sink into your spirit, your dating frustrations will soon come to an end. You can be rest assured that if the person you were dating seemed so perfect for you yet it ended, God has something better in mind for you.

Being content with what you have is a critical key in allowing God to move in your life. I didn’t grasp that right off the bat. I grappled with this idea for years, which is why I ended back out in the world thinking I knew better than God. I couldn’t be content, so I ventured out on my own. I ended up in worse relationships I had ever been in prior to that. I ended up marrying a crack addict/alcoholic/thief/adulterer/abuser. Because I could not be content with where God had me at the moment, I took matters into my own hands and made it 99 times worse!

I talk about surrender a lot when it comes to dating, and that includes surrendering to being content with what you have right now. Look around you: it’s not all that bad. Your hope lies in one simple truth: God hasn’t gone anywhere. He knows your heart’s desire and is eager to make your dreams come true. But why would He give you something amazing if you can’t even be happy right where you are?

ACTION PLAN: Start a daily gratitude journal dedicated to God. Name the journal, “Thank You, God!” Try to fill one page each day. You have so much to be thankful for even if you don’t realize it. Stop feeling sorry for yourself for what you don’t have, and start being grateful for what you do have.

GO FURTHER: Surrender it all to God. One thing I did to allow God complete control of my love life was to surrender myself to the idea that if God wanted me to be single for the rest of my life that I would be okay with that. I knew I couldn’t be trusted in making wise decisions when it came to men, so I said, “God, you know better than I do. I only want what You want for my life.” Once I felt utterly content being single, and living solely for God’s will in my life, it was only a few short months later when I met Jared.

FACT: Man’s rejection is God’s protection.