Friday, March 23, 2007

Reaping what you sow: The conclusion



Matt 7:2 "...and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again"

In my previous posts of this series, I spoke on the law of sowing and reaping. I also touched on God being a deliberate God who wants us to take deliberate steps toward the life we desire in Him. I also discussed how we see God as being "spooky" when His nature is very practical, yes He is supernatural yet practical.

One place that we see these "spooky" viewpoints in God is concerning the issue of marriage. Since Jesus was raised a Jew, I will be consulting the "Everyman's Talmud: The Major Teachings of the Rabbinic Sages" by Abraham Cohen. This will allow us to get a more Hebrew perspective of marriage and clear out alot of our "spooky" ideas.

I hadn't even planned on talking about mates and marriage, but as I started typing this came out. So if I seem a little off topic stay with me, it is obviously a subject God wants us to have more knowledge about.


Many people (women especially) wonder "When will I marry? Will I ever marry? Is it my season to marry?" Well God does work in "times and seasons" but it is not as spooky as we think. In the Bible we see verses using the word "Wife of my youth", "Husband of my Youth". (Proverbs 5:18, Joel 1:8). Everyman's Talmud states on page 162 that "to marry and rear a family was a religious command; indeed the first of all the commands addressed by God to man (Gen. 1:28)." So we know that marriage and child rearing is a commandment given by God. The author goes on to mention that the recommended age according to rabbinical teaching is ages 18-24. However, we know that in today's society people are marrying later than that. But just as a child is naturally expected to walk and talk by a certain age range, or go through puberty by a certain age range, I believe the same goes for marriage. Usually a woman's fertility decreases drastically as she near the age of forty, so I believe that a woman should really seek God concerning marriage in their most fertile years which is around 18-35.

Now back in those days the woman's father saw to it that she got married at the proper age. However, in today's society we aren't as marriage conscience as we once were. And there are so many broken homes that men do not know how to be men, and women do not know how to be women.
This means that we have to look to our heavenly Father to secure mates for us. And if you have an intimate relationship with God He will speak to you concerning a mate. God is not about playing with people's feelings and "leaving them hanging or with the short end of the stick". There may be areas of your life where God seems "silent" but I do not think a mate is one of them. As a single woman, there were times when God forwarns me about certain guys who may try to come into my life. He may be "silent" concerning things that do not weigh on you emotionally, but I know cases in which God has told women and men who their mates wwre before the person even noticed them. That does not mean God will whisper your future mate's name in your ear, but He may give you a tangible feeling of peace concerning a certain individual.

But this is where "God is faithful according to the measure you mete". If you believe that you won't be clueless and in the dark concerning a mate, then I believe that you won't be clueless and in the dark. But if you are sowing "Maybe God will bless me with someone special someday" then that is exactly what you will get, you will get a bunch of "maybe's and alot of uncertainty." I hope you enjoyed this series. God Bless



1 comment:

Insightful said...

I am 27 and also single. There was a time when people like you and I were stigmatized for not being married (I take it you are in your 20s too). But it's true we were looked down upon for our bachelor life, which gave nothing to society.

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