To all my single people out there, this one's for you!
Maybe there is relationship advice the story of Samson after all. Maybe his life was not all about bronze and muscles.
Samson
I hope you all know the story of Samson and the Philistines. If not, turn your bibles to Judges 13 and begin reading. The question is, how can Samson be an example for relationship advice? Well, I'm not going to say he was spotless cause Samson had issues with being equally yoked. Throughout Samson's story he was either with a Philistine woman or prostitute (I know I was shocked too). However, everything from Samson's first marriage to his birth was planned by God. In Judges 13, we see that Samson's mother could not bear children. However, God chose Samson's mother at a particular time to deliver the Israelites from the oppression of the Philistines - 40 years (Judges 13:1).
I believe that this insight into the way God operates provides reassurance for many of us single Christians. In John 11:40, Jesus told the sisters of Lazarus that if they believed they would see the glory of God. I held onto that because I am believing God for a husband, but the truth is that everything that takes place in my life is supposed to bring Glory to God. Take a minute and wrap your mind around that, everything in your life coach should bring honor to God. So that means in singleness and in marriage, our lives will be used to bring honor to God.
Let's consider Samson. God already had a plan for his life to "rescue the Israelites from the Philistines" (Judges 13:5). Now, the way in which it happened was a bit funny because Samson was interested in a Philistine woman who ended up ratting him out in turn kick starting Philistine's judgment, but God allowed it (Judges 14:4). Samson single handedly killed over a 1,000 plus Philistines by the power of God (Judges 16:30). Samson judged the Philistines for 20 years and bought honor to God.
Yes, God's timing was at work from the moment God called his mother. God's timing is strategic because it is always in line with his purpose. Samson had his own plans of getting married and settling down, but the Lord had a plan set from the time he called Samson's parents (Proverbs 19:21). Wow, before Samson was formed in his mother's womb, God already predestined and set apart Samson for a specific purpose.
How does that relate to us, being single and waiting on God to answer our prayer for marriage. The hardest part for any single Christian is the "waiting on God." I won't go into the topic of "some remaining in singleness all their life (another blog)", but I will talk about being in the season of singleness. God is the one who places us in whatever situation we are in whether that be single or married (1 Corinthians 7:17), but how we view it is completely up to us. No, I haven't been viewing the single season in the most positive way. Now, I'm working on it. I encouraged you guys, my family, to read 1 Corinthians 7 (I was running from it, I did not what to hear from Paul). Look and understand what Paul is saying about being either single or married. To me, Paul basically said marriage is a distraction and could prevent a person from fulfilling their God designed purpose. Still does not take away the fact that I desire to be married but it changes the outlook because I could definitely see myself getting distracted by marriage at this time in my life. Again, I leave you guys with John 11:40, "Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?” I don't know how long I'll be in this season of singleness, but Jesus told me to believe, and I would see the glory of God manifest in my life.
What about you? Do you plan on believing in Jesus no matter what the outcome is because if you do, you will see the glory of God.
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