#jeff cherry

My good friend Jeff Cherry wrote a blog today about singleness. If you find yourself in this season of singleness, check it out here: The Purpose of Singleness. Thank you Jeff for your heart, wisdom and pointing it all back to Jesus.

Although many people would say that I wasn’t single very long considering I got married at 25, I remember vividly being in that season and having it seem like f.o.r.e.v.e.r.

“When Lord? When will I get asked out? When will a guy like me? When will I have my chance at love? When will I meet my husband?”

I wish I could say that I walked through the season of singleness with a heart full of hope, bursting with thankfulness to God and embracing every moment for His sake. Some seasons, yes. Some seasons I loved being single. Some seasons I was totally content and satisfied with it just being Jesus and me.

But often, I fought to be content. I fought to be thankful. I wondered why. I wondered when. I was bitter. I was fearful—Has God forgotten me? Does he see me?

And through a heart breaking summer, I found that yes, He sees me. Yes, He knows my very heart, my every longing and desire and hope. He did not forget me. And He has not forgotten you beloved. He is for your joy. He is for your good and His glory. God is always at work in our lives—we may not know how, we may not understand—but we must believe.

“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Is. 55:9

God is for you. If you are in a season of singleness right now, know—believe—trust that God has you there because it’s for your best. It wouldn’t be best for you right now to be with someone. As Jeff Cherry said, maybe He’s refining you and purging you of a sin that needs to be dealt with before you bring someone into your world. Maybe it’s because He wants you to truly trust Him and build a solid foundation with Him first. Maybe it’s because He is using you in a mighty way that couldn’t be done if you were married right now….

I see all 3 of those while I was single. There was a lot of pruning to be done in my life for sure! One big one being that I needed to be healed and restored in how I viewed myself. I had an eating disorder for many years because I wanted to be in control and fell into the lie that I had to be skinny to be beautiful. No. God wanted to purge me of that and bring me into wholeness; to see that I am created in His image and therefore need to be a good steward of how I take care of my body. To know that I am beautiful because He created me, because He died for me—He gives me worth, not a boyfriend or husband. The Lord brought me through the valley and mountaintops of waiting well on Him—of truly trusting Him with His choice for me. Did I really believe in His Fatherly care for me? In His mighty power? In His ability and wisdom? And I was able to do awesome things that I can’t now as a married woman: College. Studying abroad in Israel. Traveling through Europe. Mission trip to South Africa. Intern in Maui. Living with awesome girls. Late night ice cream runs. Sleepovers in the living room.

According to statics, most likely you will get married.

But more importantly, take HOPE that God knows your heart.

He sees you.

He is for you.

Run into His arms and nestle yourself right into His chest. Think of your life as a ball of yarn. Pull out just a few inches…that’s your single season. Short. Oh so short compared to the rest. You can wait. In Him. And beloved, remember that our yarn goes to eternity. Our lives here on earth are very short. Soon, we will be with the Lover of our Souls, our Husband in Heaven, scarfing down food at the wedding feast. Soon we will be with our True Love. The One who pursued us, proposed to us on the cross and has given us His Holy Spirit as our engagement ring. He’s coming back. We don’t know when. But He is coming to get us. On a white horse, no less!

Take hope. He is for you. Wait well beloved.

You’re asking why a “Christian” blog would recommend a hip-hop artist whose album has the parental advisory notice for explicit content, and who is currently the most outspoken artist for marriage equality?

Because it will make you a better Christian.

If being a Christian means trying to be like Jesus, and it should, then we should be aware of how we are falling short. Macklemore has a unique ability to point out the inconsistencies he sees within Christianity.

Here are some of the conclusions he’s made about God and His people:

God loves all his children is somehow forgotten And we paraphrase a book written 3,500 years ago   When I was at church they taught me something else If you preach hate at the service, those words aren’t anointed That holy water that you soak in has been poisoned   I read the Bible but I forgot the verses The liquor store is open later than the church is   Open to interpretation, if you’re judging I don’t want it I’ve got sins that scold, like my throat when I hit the bottle And I’m sinking, that’s why I’m drinking I need a refill far more than just once every weekend

I think the problem that Macklemore has put his finger on is that many Christians aren’t very much like Christ. We treat church like a destination rather than God’s people and Christianity like a once weekly activity, rather than a mark of newfound identity in Christ.

We’re happy to be trapped in a works-based, religious contract with God, when He has offered so much more. Because we’ve wrongly understood grace, we wrongly represent Christ. Our do better, try harder mentality forces us to look at others as competition, always trying to out do one another, or we act like uninvited referees, blowing our whistle at every mistake we see. They don’t need to hear that God will love them if…

What they need is:

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. || Rom. 5:6-8

The good news is that Macklemore’s conclusions aren’t true of God:

God loves all his children is somehow forgotten And we paraphrase a book written 3,500 years ago

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. || Jn. 3:16

When I was at church they taught me something else If you preach hate at the service, those words aren’t anointed That holy water that you soak in has been poisoned

Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” || Mark 12:29-31

I read the Bible but I forgot the verses The liquor store is open later than the church is

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. || Heb. 4:14-16

Open to interpretation, if you’re judging I don’t want it I’ve got sins that scold, like my throat when I hit the bottle And I’m sinking, that’s why I’m drinking I need a refill far more than just once every weekend

Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.” || Jn. 4:13-15

I’m not saying that I agree with everything Macklemore writes. I’m not saying that Macklemore should be your pastor. And I’m not making judgements about whether or not he is a Christian. I am saying that as Christians we need to understand how society sees the people of God. We need to be aware of the inconsistencies in our lives because we represent Christ and Macklemore is one of the best at highlighting our failings.