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My Significant Other
Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
- 1 Timothy 6:12
- 1 Timothy 6:12
May 14th was my fiancee and my anniversary, an amazing two years together! Actually, what's amazing is that she put up with me for two years... Our relationship has been slightly more difficult than most I have been involved in, for many different reasons. The first being that we started out in a distance relationship after working at a camp together, and the second being that we came from completely different worlds.
My fiancee is hard of hearing, and involved in the deaf culture; while I came from the "hearing world." Of course, to be together I had to become more familiar with the deaf culture, and my sign language needed to improve... a lot. And, with our differences we had quite a few fights, even threatening to break off the relationship at times- frustrated that things were just not going the way we wanted. Yet, through it all, we somehow prevailed, and today we are stronger than ever, and looking forward to a lifetime filled with each other's love... something more than I could have ever imagined.
Thinking about my relationship with her, I was then directed to another relationship... my relationship with God. Being raised a Christian by my parents I can claim that I have always believed in God and been a Christian, however I haven't always had the strongest relationship with Him. In fact, my relationship, like most started off distant, without Him being as involved in my life as He should have been. He wasn't always my main focus or consideration. Just like my relationship with my now fiancee, my relationship with God was long distance.
I am sure this is something that we can all relate to, a time in our lives where God was there, but at the same time He wasn't. While He was involved in our lives, we didn't involve Him as much as we needed to. And like most distance relationships, we tend to ignore Him when we are angry or busy. We get angry at our inability to understand Him or His plans, and our inability to "communicate" with Him. And at times, we may even consider "breaking up" with God.
I wish I could say living as a Christian is always easy, but we know it is not... we know that there are many reasons that our relationship can fail. Whether it be that we are not willing to conform, not mature enough for a real relationship, or we just let outside forces get in and destroy everything. We can get frustrated when we do not improve as much as we want, or when we feel that we are just "standing still."
But just like if my fiancee and I had broken up, breaking up with God would mean losing the greatest, most wonderful blessing in our life... a relationship with someone who truly loves us, and wants what is best for us (Jeremiah 29:11). It would mean missing out on more than we can ever imagine (John 15:11)... a joy that comes after all of the hard work.
Today, where is your relationship with God? Are you staying at a distance, or trying to get closer to Him? Are you ignoring Him, or asking Him to speak to you constantly? Are you putting your personal ambitions and feelings first, letting others dictate your relationship, or focusing strictly on serving Him and loving Him as He loves you? (Ephesians 2:4-5)
On October 24, 2011 by Frederick
Wow, the last week or so has been probably the worst week of my life. About 5months ago or so, I was away from God. I had fallen away from him believing he didn't make the right choices in my life. I still showed up on Sundays to please my mom and to try and sunder my conscience from my week. But I did see the problem finally and decided to move back to my hometown. Without a job, a place to live even a way to make my car payment. I only went to church when I got here because I had friends. But the Lord did something amazing after a month or so of being out there. My friends invited me to a camp. I really didn't wanna go but all my excuses ran up so I went. I had my heart broken twice before camp by the same girl. So I had no interest in looking for a girl especially one who would make my conscience feel terrible. But God had another idea, he knew how to fix me. And he did it, he put a girl in my life. Who made me want to change made me realize that God was so absolutely great. And I wanted to love God because I felt taht loving him would give me the chance to love her. Well although we are not dating or anything. We are friends...I like her she knows I like her shows signs. We text and live 5hrs away from each other, and over the last week it seems like shes nothing but busy when it comes to talking to me. But manyother things are not out of her way. And I was starting to get discouraged and upset. I was hurting, and than I started reading around this website and found a post about basically my own situation. Shes hard of hearing I am not. We met at camp live away from each other. Right after I prayed asking for help and patience and strength. And some sort of hand to help me make it through if she was meant to be. Even though I havent heard from her in a day or two...If she says shes been busy i'll believe her even if it hurts. Because I have a God who stood by me even when I was wanting nothing to do with him. But I loved him deep down and that love ended up bursting out. I feel that I truly can wait for her to find her way back to the spot in our lives we had reached. I can't fear the pain anymore THANK YOU!! Response: Frederick, Thank you for sharing your story! I will be praying for you and hoping for the best. Remember that God has something special planned for you, not according to your timetable, but according to His. Remember to put God first in all things, and if she is meant for you your relationship will grow, although there will still be difficult times. And if not, do not be discouraged, do not lose faith... we have an AMAZING GOD who has plans far greater than we can imagine. With that said, I would love for you to email me to talk about this more. You have an amazing story which is surprisingly, very similar to mine ;) God Bless, Mike :o)
Wow, the last week or so has been probably the worst week of my life. About 5months ago or so, I was away from God. I had fallen away from him believing he didn't make the right choices in my life. I still showed up on Sundays to please my mom and to try and sunder my conscience from my week. But I did see the problem finally and decided to move back to my hometown. Without a job, a place to live even a way to make my car payment. I only went to church when I got here because I had friends. But the Lord did something amazing after a month or so of being out there. My friends invited me to a camp. I really didn't wanna go but all my excuses ran up so I went. I had my heart broken twice before camp by the same girl. So I had no interest in looking for a girl especially one who would make my conscience feel terrible. But God had another idea, he knew how to fix me. And he did it, he put a girl in my life. Who made me want to change made me realize that God was so absolutely great. And I wanted to love God because I felt taht loving him would give me the chance to love her. Well although we are not dating or anything. We are friends...I like her she knows I like her shows signs. We text and live 5hrs away from each other, and over the last week it seems like shes nothing but busy when it comes to talking to me. But manyother things are not out of her way. And I was starting to get discouraged and upset. I was hurting, and than I started reading around this website and found a post about basically my own situation. Shes hard of hearing I am not. We met at camp live away from each other. Right after I prayed asking for help and patience and strength. And some sort of hand to help me make it through if she was meant to be. Even though I havent heard from her in a day or two...If she says shes been busy i'll believe her even if it hurts. Because I have a God who stood by me even when I was wanting nothing to do with him. But I loved him deep down and that love ended up bursting out. I feel that I truly can wait for her to find her way back to the spot in our lives we had reached. I can't fear the pain anymore THANK YOU!! Response: Frederick, Thank you for sharing your story! I will be praying for you and hoping for the best. Remember that God has something special planned for you, not according to your timetable, but according to His. Remember to put God first in all things, and if she is meant for you your relationship will grow, although there will still be difficult times. And if not, do not be discouraged, do not lose faith... we have an AMAZING GOD who has plans far greater than we can imagine. With that said, I would love for you to email me to talk about this more. You have an amazing story which is surprisingly, very similar to mine ;) God Bless, Mike :o)
On July 16, 2008 by Lauren
Thanks for the reminder that we always need to work on our relationship with God and keep Him close to us because He should be first in our lives.
Thanks for the reminder that we always need to work on our relationship with God and keep Him close to us because He should be first in our lives.
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Jeremiah 29:11
[11] For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
John 15:11
[11] These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
Ephesians 2:4-5
[4] But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, [5] Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)