the blog.
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"But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all your works."
Psalms 73:28 |
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Dec. 10 / 6 min read  
"God, what are you doing?! Where on earth are we going??" Trust me, He whispers to my heart. Trust. I sigh exasperatedly. Again?! Can't you tell me something concrete, God? Can't you stop always saying "trust" and say something else like (cue cheery voice) "Only 2341 days until you get married!!"?? Anyone else been here? 🙋🏻♀️ Welcome to coffee shop date with Emma #6! (Also known as Ramblings with Emma because she's not exactly sure yet where this is going besides that it's on trust - huh, maybe this is practice for her to trust, too) Anyway, today I wanted to share verses and things that have really helped me trust God in and with my singleness season (and I pray it encourages you in whatever season you may be in, too!). I've struggled a lot with trust especially in the second half of this year, if I'm being completely honest. Trust is hard !! Especially in really tough seasons of life when it feels like you have NO idea what God is doing with your life. But it's something God requires of us - Prov. 3:5-6 tells us to trust in God with ALL of our heart and to not lean on our own understanding (Hahaha, the song I'm listening to literally just said that XD. God is so good at what He does 😆). One way God helped bring this verse to life for me was through an analogy. Suppose you're sitting on something unstable. Maybe it's like a cardboard box or something - maybe your little brother (prolly don't try this one). You probably are not putting your full weight on it, right? You keep your legs on the floor because if you put your full weight on that unsteady, make-shift chair, it'll probably cave in. But if you're on a normal, well-built chair, you can pick your feet up. Trusting in God and not in your own understanding is like this - picking up your feet and putting your full weight on Him. That's trust - and God is definiteyyy a reliable person worthy of our trust, who will not let us down! It's like putting all our eggs in His basket because we trust that He is able to hold us up. And when we lift our feet up, that's when we can rest in the chair (in Him)!! Cool how it works like that, huh? Okay, deep breath. Here's something that might not be easy to swallow: You're not guaranteed to be married one day. You might end up single - even if you have the longing and desire to be married. The truth is, we're never promised marriage in the Bible! We know from the Bible that it's a good thing and that it's a blessing (as is singleness!) and that it's not good for man to be alone...but as far as I've seen, there's no verse that says "Emma will be married in 2025 and then John will be married to Sally in 2026 and then..." So if it's not promised that we'll be married, what do we put our trust in exactly? If we can't say with confidence, "Don't worry, I'll get married one day and then everything will be fine" (which is also not a guarantee that everything will be fine when you're married), what do we hope in? Well, God of course, right? But what else do we know for certain? God's promises - which we find where?? The treasure we call the BIBLE! Let me share with you the promise that I've really been clinging to lately. It comes from a few places in the Bible, actually. See if you can try to figure it out from these verses ;) -- and I know there's a temptation to skim past the verses (at least for me!) but I encourage you to really lean into them. This is the stuff that are God's literal WORDS and it has WAY more power to encourage you than my best writing because it's God-breathed!! "The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him." "The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing." - Psalm 34:10 "For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly." "For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things." "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." When I'm tempted to despair or to question what in the world God is doing, I say something like this: "I don't know what you're doing, God, but I know that there's good in store. It may not mean that I'll get married, but I know that it'll be good." God promises us that there's good in store - that there is no good thing that He withholds from those who seek Him !! Which perhaps give you pause - like, Emma, do you know what my life is like right now? And no, I don't! But I know that if God says in His Word that He will satisfy the hungry and fill the longing soul with good things, that means that He will and He does. (Ask Him!!) God works all things into something good and He has your good and His glory both in mind. You may not be able to see it right now, but I pray you have the faith to believe it. And I hope that you would also be reminded of all the times when God HAS filled you and satisfied you in the past!! I would also encourage you to ask yourself how you define "good". Are you looking at it in a material sense, or in a spiritual sense? Did you know that Ephesians 1 tells us we are blessed with EVERY spiritual blessing in the heavenly places ?! That's AMAZING !! And Psalms tells us that blessed is the man who takes refuge in God. When we're in difficult seasons, facing difficult and unknown things, we are often driven to make God our refuge even more. And when we do, we are blessed !! Blessed are those who trust God! My friend, growing in closeness to the Lord is one of the most beautiful treasures ever. He is the sweetest friend and the wisest counselor. He's also the most amazing guide, and gentle, merciful, and forgiving in his rebukes, redirection, and discipline. Friend, this is my question for you - and please don't skip this. This is probably the most important part of this post (besides the Scripture, hehe): Can you trust God with your singleness? Can you trust that God truly has good in store for you - now, in this season, and even if marriage is not something in your future? He has a plan to give you a hope and a future. He loves you so much and desires the best for you. He knows what you need! This upcoming week, I want to challenge you to intentionally trust God and surrender this season to Him. Instead of saying, "I trust that I will get married in your perfect timing," try saying, "I trust that you have good in store and that you are worthy to be trusted with my future." Remember, He's the wisest and most knowledgeable and perfectly good person there is!! And ask the Lord to show you the beauty in the season you're in and the good He has for you, right now where you're at. You never know ;) God's pretty good at surprises and He's also pretty (okay, very) good at planning our lives for our good and His glory. It might look TOTALLY different than what you could've imagined and include a lot of pain, but we know it'll be good in the end!! I'm learning that God gives a lot of disguised gifts of deeper intimacy with Him through trials :). Friend, may the Lord give you the strength, courage, and grace to trust in Him wholeheartedly. We can do nothing without Christ, but in Him, we have everything we need :) Much love, Emma <3 P.S. I wrote a song about trust in the middle of a very difficult season when I extra needed to trust the Lord and I pray it encourages you like it did to me :)
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