by Sonya Williams
In any Christian marriage, of course God should be your number one priority. After God, your next priority should be your spouse, children, ministry, job and so on, but let’s be real; there are only 24 hours in a day. Many people work full-time. Adding on a spouse and at least one child; if you sleep 8hrs/night that leaves you with 16hrs left in the day. You work 9-5, then come home and try to squeeze in some quality time with your spouse and children along with eating and relaxing before bed. You do these same routines 5 days a week, assuming you don’t work overtime and weekends, too. When Sunday rolls around, you spend 1-2 hours in church. Then, it’s back to work on Monday morning. Yes, it is possible to set aside time for God during the week if you make Him your number one priority, but truth be told, when you’re single, it’s so much easier. Imagine how much closer your relationship would be with God if you spent as much time in His presence as you did at work, with your spouse, and with your kids…I’m not saying that God is going to ask you to neglect your family. I’m just saying that when you are single, you are able to devote more of yourself and more of your time to developing a relationship with the true lover of your soul.
After being married for 8 years and separated for the past 3 years, I can honestly say that I’d rather be married than to be single, but my advice to anyone who is unmarried would be to remain single until you have developed a mature relationship with God. If you’re married, make it a priority to set aside quality time for just you and God; and if you’re separated, DO NOT seek another (wo)man to fill that void. Seek God and allow Him to direct your path during that time away from your spouse. I truly wish that I knew then what I know now, but I know that God still has a plan for my life and His timing is always perfect. God doesn’t make bad things happen to us and He doesn’t tempt us into making mistakes, but He does use those situations to draw us closer to Him. Before my husband and I separated, I never cracked open my Bible except in church or anytime that I wanted to point out my husband’s wrongs. You know how some of us like to find a scripture that says exactly what we want to prove something to someone, yet we neglect to read the rest of the chapter? Yes, that was me. I do not rejoice in my separation, but I do rejoice in what God has done in it. As {Psalms 119:71 KJV} says, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.” I like how The Message Bible phrases it: “They forced me to learn from your textbook.”
“As it turned out, it was the best thing that could have happened. Instead of trusting in our own strength or wits to get out of it, we were forced to trust God totally””not a bad idea since he’s the God who raises the dead!” {2 Corinthians 1:9 The Message} I would like to encourage anyone in the midst of a marital storm to seek peace in our savior, Jesus Christ. No matter the situation, God can restore the years and if God can resurrect a dead man, I know He can resurrect a dead marriage!
Sonya L. Williams, author of “˜Til Death Do Us Part is an aspiring actor and spoken word artist making her mark in the DMV area. As a creative writer, she has allowed her poetry to come to life from book pages to open mic stages at venues such as Poetry nightclub in Las Vegas, Nevada, as well as Busboys and Poets in Shirlington, Virgnia. For more information visit her website: www.wix.com/sonyalwilliams. You can find her on Facebook or Twitter as well.
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