That Season: To the hilt

You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power,

for You created all things, and by Your will they were created and have.

Revelation 4:11

There was a time when I was paralyzed with fear of going on a date. It would always be a first date, I might add. Thoughts loomed- Should I marry this person? Is this what God wants me to do? What if he's not the right one? And the only thing the poor guy wanted to do was to have a meal together! Here I was contemplating the will of God and a simple meal at Chili's. 

We make the will of God more difficult than it really is. Jim Elliot, missionary to the Auca Indians, once said "Wherever you are, be all there! Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God." How often do we/ did I fail to live every moment to the hilt because I failed to realize the will of God was the very moment I was living in! I would toss and turn at night thinking about a potential suitor and being uncertain if this was who God would have me to marry. Hear me when I say that I am absolutely in love with Jeremy and love him more every day, but there is a part of me that quickly realizes how I overthought too much of my life. Amanda told me so often. My mom told me so often. Yet I ignored them.

When Jeremy first emailed me about being interested in getting to know me more, I thought about whether to email him back or not for about three days. I told only a few people about his email including Mrs. Bush. I'd gone to visit her for the Easter holiday and told her all about this guy who had emailed me and the fact that he was a baseball player and his move to West Point to teach. And I still doubted if I should email him back. Mrs. Bush, who is great at giving advice, gave me some tough love in that moment. She looked me square in the eyes and said: Listen, if you don't email him back, you better quit praying for a husband! Can you imagine the gut punch? Quit praying? Seriously?

On a very real level, Mrs. Bush in all her red-headed glory was right! The will of God was now. The will of God was the email that made its way to my inbox from this handsome single man who was interested in me. The will of God is what He places in front of us at the very moment we are living when we are faithfully walking in a manner that pleases Him. 

Whether we are single without a prospect in sight or one who has a date every weekend, we have to be of a posture to trust the will of God as is now. He will remove whatever He deems unfit for our lives. We have to be the ones to submit to His will. Paul promises His will is perfect and good and pleasing (Romans 12:2), but we have to be the ones to trust Him and His will. 

The verse at the top of this post is one that stood at me today as I was doing my Bible study. I was reminded of how we are created for His glory much like a flower or a sunset. Our lives are to be oriented to Him and living out His will. If we are not living out the will of God to the hilt, then we must reorient our lives.

If you are single, live singleness to the hilt. It is the will of God for you now.

If you are dating, live dating to the hilt. It is the will of God for you now.

If you are married, live marriage to the hilt. It is the will of God for you now.