A psalm for the psingle

Yes, I know how to spell single, but i felt like I needed another P there... Well anyways, a year ago, I was 25, single, lonely, without prospects of finding someone to share my life with. I had been obedient to the best of my knowledge and ability, and done things Gods way, but it didn't seem to bear any fruit. To the contrary, things seemed to go better for those who were disobedient.

Maybe you are in the same situation. You have prayed, done your very best, but time is passing and your friends are getting married and staring families one by one. The ungodly seem to be making progress, while the righteous are put to shame.

You are not the first one to think like that. I wasn't either. Probably even King David wasn't first, but he's the one who has articulated it best. Granted he's not writing in the context of having a hard time finding a wife, but the principle is still the same.Ungodliness might appear to yield the best return, but only short term. God will reward your faithfulness if you remain steadfast in him and do what is right. Hear David out:

Do not fret because of evildoers,
Be not envious toward wrongdoers.
For they will wither quickly like the grass
And fade like the green herb.
Trust in the LORD and do good;
Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.
Delight yourself in the LORD;
And He will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the LORD,
Trust also in Him, and He will do it.
He will bring forth your righteousness as the light
And your judgment as the noonday.
Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.
Cease from anger and forsake wrath;
Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing. 

Trust in the Lord, no matter what happens. He will not fail you. More than that: Rejoice in him! Understand that true joy is only found in him. Let your heart desire his way. When I experienced various temptations, I could not give in to them, because there was something I desired more. My goal was a marriage according to Gods will. And I knew no shortcuts would take me there. And that by trying such a shortcut I would in fact take my eyes off the goal and loose it.

God's will for you is good. When your heart desires Gods ways, your desire converges with what God desires most of all to give you. Commit your way to the Lord; obey his commands, down to the smallest detail. By doing that you walk the way that he has marked out for you. The way that leads to what your heart desires: His will.

Is all hope gone? It seemed like it for me this time last year. But we serve a sovereign God. And in a small church in Wisconsin there was a young woman thinking in similar terms. We knew each other a bit already, and knew we had many goals and desires in common. But because of the minor detail of the Atlantic ocean separating us, neither of us had thought anything would happen between us. But when I was going to a conference in Atlanta, her family invited me to visit them and drive down there together with them. we started talking more, and June 18. 2009 an email landed in her fathers inbox where I expressed my interest for her (I'll write more about that later). September 3. we got engaged, and on November 21. 2009, and the rest is, as they say, history. History that confirms that God is faithful.