Be a Valentine…
It’s THAT Month. Oh, you know… Valentine’s Day is coming for us again. We have a single friend who posts annually on social media, “Happy Single’s Awareness Day!” in response to all the romantic coupling being paraded in front of him for 24 hours straight. His angst echoes Adam’s experience in the garden, all the coupled creatures passing him by, stirring in him a new desire, a desire for a companion just right for him.
I remember feeling that while watching the red romantic flowers flood into the office on those days. They’d march past me as if with attitude, reminding me I had no one calling me their own. Friends being unavailable to hang out that night, because they had a date, was like rubbing my nose into another lost year of romance. One year I decided to combat it by being a Valentine instead of expecting one. I gave a lonely friend a silly card. It felt good to make someone feel seen and valued. In turn, I felt of some value too. That day Cupid lost his hold over me. I was free!
One thing we can learn from Adam’s experience is that all those “romances” passing him by were never meant for him. He was being set apart from his crowd for a love only God could give him. That’s not a bad thing. Though it was an uncomfortable thing it was also the best thing ever. It was a personalizing time between him and God. Adam was knowing God, learning His ways and His desires for him as he served God. God was using Adam’s work to prepare him to receive what God was going to be fashioning to fit just him. Adam’s love story of meeting and marrying the one God had for him continues to increase faith on the earth to this day.
Gary and I have been posting on our socials, since January, the good news that God wants to write more love stories (be a Valentine this year, share them with the lonely hearts this month). A love story written by God has so much more to it than the pursuit of personal happiness. It has the potential to seed faith up to 1000 generations. God has you surrounded by people right now He wants as witnesses to your love story. And not just the story leading to your wedding but the story your love for Christ first is showing them. He is not only preparing you and your mysterious spouse-to-be but He is also preparing your witnesses to see His faithfulness to you they can expect the same.
If you’re solo again this Valentine’s Day keep Paul’s words regarding marriage and singleness in mind; “…each has his own gift from God. One has one gift. Another has another gift…” 1 Cor 7:6. Marriage is a gift AND Singleness is a gift. Singleness is as valuable a gift as marriage. Both situations have an advantage. For Singles the advantage is time and independence. You’ve got the autonomy and time to go and grow, unlike your married friends. Everyone is given singleness unfortunately not everyone takes advantage of it for His delight.
Stay in this truth this month: you have been loved with an everlasting love from the beginning of time (Jer 31:3). Think about it! There has never been a day in history where you were not seen and loved. Expectant parents give us a shadow of that experience; the baby has no idea the excitement, preparations, and love already being felt over a human they have not even met yet. It’s like that for God in immeasurable ways. He foreknew you and foreordained you to be the object of His pure love, FOREVER. Can you say that about anyone else in your life today? Of course not. He is the owner of forever after all.
Take note: He is very aware of the desires stirring in you this month as the “couples parade” starts up. Don’t let the “not yet” hold you, hostage, to an idea that you are lacking. Study the everlasting love of God until your heart is full and then go be a Valentine: give it away to the lonely hearts around you until the right one comes for you. When the right one comes for you continue giving into the lonely hearts around you as a couple.
