In our culture, we see relationships being romanticized as some sort of necessity. We constantly see celebrities get in and out of them in the blink of an eye. We are told that if you aren't in one, you're going to be forever alone and that you're weird for doing so.

For me, seeing everyone I know in a relationship can really pressure me. People I went to high school with are tying the knot. People I grew up with are settling down. Even those closest to me are sort of getting into one.

To be honest, it bums me out. It makes me wonder when I will get that chance. It's thoughts like this that is the devil's playground to truly get you. It's the thoughts that say, you'll never be in a relationship, you'll never be loved, no one cares that can really wreck you.

This is why it is so important to realize that whenever we have these thoughts, we need to continually press into God. These thoughts are put there because you're putting your trust in relationships and finding that love that we all need. We need to realize that the love you're searching for? It can only be found in Him. He loved us so much that He sent His son to die for us! That's a love that can't be compared with what the world has brought us to believe is "love".

What we also need to remember is that even when we see people, even our believer friends, get into relationships, we are not forgotten. Whenever I get into my little funk, I always feel as though the Lord has forgotten about me altogether. In Isaiah 49, the Lord says,

This verse is one that's really important in my struggle with being content with being single. It's so easy to feel forgotten, but to realize that the Lord hasn't and that He always has you in mind is really comforting. He has our entire lives planned out. He knows that this season of singleness is really hard when you see everyone around you not in the same position as you. He wants you to realize that He knows your every thought, and that His timing is perfect. Jeremiah 29:11 says that his plans for your future are still to prosper, and in this, He wants you to know that He has the perfect someone planned for you and is preparing you and that person for that moment.

When it all comes down to it, we need to remember that this season of singleness isn't just brought about for no reason. It's a time to really focus in on God, to know that He loves you and has not forgotten about you. He hears every want and need you ask for, and He will provide at the right moment in time. When will that time be, you ask? I don't know. Be encouraged that the Lord has all of that planned out for you at the perfect moment, and that you have a love that cannot be compared to this world with Him.

Yours truly,

Leighan