i saw something about this somewhere else on the forums and i cant find it for some reason (maybe cause its farther back in the archieves, and this probably isnt the right place to put this topic anyways, but anywho).
it was talking something along the lines of wether or not there is "the one partner" for us or if we can choose whoever we think is right for us. ive been thinking/wondering about it before and after i read this forum (the one i cant find) and wondered if God wants everything in our lives (meaning He wants full control, even though that is easier said than done) wont that also mean He has control/choice in who we marry? i know that we have free will and all that, but as christians, isnt our life supposed to revolve around Gods will, not our own? the bible talks about taking up our cross daily, dying daily, presenting our lives as living sacrifices etc. and any honest christian will admit that we all get off the alter/take control of the wheel and walk/drive our own way from time to time (or many times like i can). something that always seems to come up in these topics is whether or not we may have missed our chance with getting "the one" that God may have for us. i believe that if God can give us a second chance with life then He can give us second chances (or third or fourth or fifth etc.) with anything and everything else including getting the one that He wants for us. i know the bible says that God will give us the desires of our heart, and if we pray we will recieve and all that, but then my question is, what if our prayer/desire is out of earthly selfishness, not a holy desire to serve and glorify God? i dont think that God will answer. even in the Lords prayer it says "...THY kingdom come, THY will be done, on earth as it is in heaven...." how often do we knowingly or unknowing change it to "......my kingdom come, my will be done on earth as it is in heaven...." (i am half joking/half serious by saying this cause sometimes when i stop and think about what i am about to pray for/about i realise that i am pray in the latter instead of the former). 1 thessalonians 5:16-18 says "rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you". i know this verse can be used in many different ways for many different things, and the reason i use it is because how often do we REJOICE? are we PRAYING WITHOUT CEASING? are we GIVING THANKS TO GOD IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES? i mean its easy to look around at all the dating/engaged/married couples and feel miserable and lonely, but we are not supposed to, we are told to rejoice and be thankful because rejoicing/thankfulness takes our focus off of ourselves on puts it onto others and to God. how often do we go to God in prayer about finding a partner? more importantly, how often do we ask for Gods will to be done in finding a partner (wether it is yes, no, or not yet). do we just do a 30 second-2 minute prayer once a week/month about it, or are we honestly serching/seeking Gods will in the matter. how thankful are we in all of our circumstances (good bad and ugly)?
i just want to finish by throwing this out (as off topic as it might be). feelings like joy, happiness, anger, love etc are states of mind and heart. our minds and hearts are intertwined emotionally. for example, we can look at our situations (in this case because it is a dating site i will use being single as an example) and we can either feel lonely/longing, or we can rejoice and be thankful.
anywho sorry for a long, possibley random, off topic post (with possible spelling/grammer errors, its 3 am and its taken me about an hour to type this, as im about 75% asleep). there is probaly more i wanted to say but oh well, off to bed.
Christianity has never been about religion, that never works, however The word Christian is used so easily today. Having a personal relationship with him is where it separates us from all religions. Many show up in church, but without that personal relationship with him, they are dead!
With this relationship, he gives us the fruits of the Holy Spirit, this separates us, it is used to show others the love your have for others and you develop them in your walk in life to show others the love that our savior has for the lost.
In this relationship, the only priority is him, their is no need for any other priorities. The more you stay in prayer and in the word, the more he gives us. His wisdom in this relationship is used is used in our relationship with others too. The faith and trust in him brings to us the believer, that we are doing his will with confirmation from him. God has no place for confusion, when we have this in our life in our walk with him, we need to get in the word and prayer and he will guide us back onto the right path for doing his will.
I hope this helps you somewhat, it has made me grow in my walk with Christ.
I don't think God runs around controlling people, I think it's more of an internal thing usually. I mean...He wants our "heart", and He wants to change it. If God was in full control of absolutely everything then He contradicts Himself a lot. I do think He leads people that are trying to follow Him, but I don't think that we're robots that He programs. We all have choices to make, and I know that even though I want to follow God completely, I still do things that are against His will. If it's possible for me to do that, then it's possible that I missed His perfect plan for my life...but I'm pretty sure that happened when I was a kid, before I even knew what was right/wrong. Fortunately, God has planned for our failure and I do believe that He still has a plan for our lives, but I do believe that He plans through our free will.
As ' DontHitThatMark' said "God can plan through our free will" and that includes our failures; because He sees the beginning, the middle, the end and ALL of it as one picture.
