Single Living

I listen to music all the time. The genre doesn't matter, nor the volume. I listen to a variety from classical to screamo to hip hop to techno to worship. Oftentimes, I end up listening to the radio as I drive to work and around town. It was during one such drive to work, that I listened to a conversation on a Christian radio program. The point of the message was that marriage is the purpose for living. That was it; there were no ifs, ands, or buts. This left me with one question, if marriage is our purpose for living or where we find our purpose for living anyway, what is the purpose for those of us who are single? Are we just in a holding pattern until the right person is brought into our life or are we simply purposeless as long as we are single?

Single. How long were you single? Did your season of being single last for your teenage years, or maybe a few years beyond that? What would you say if I told you that I have been single for the majority of my life? Throughout these years being single I have found that there can be a stigma attached to someone in their late twenties or early thirties who is still single.  Well-meaning people raise questions like, "Don't you want to be married?" "Don't you want to have kids?" "Don't you want to have a family?" "Why aren't you married?" Unfortunately the questions are just the tip of the iceberg; the generalized statements are even worse. Comments like, "The right person will come along when you least expect it," or "God is just preparing you for an amazing person."  The underlying message in these questions and comments is that it is abnormal for an adult in this age group to be single.

Being single is seen as a deficit, as if God cannot or will not use you until you are married. I believe that although it may be atypical in current society for someone in this age group to be unmarried that it is not abnormal. Every one has a different story with different chapters and different characters. The purpose for living is to serve and worship God in obedience to His command to go to the ends of the earth to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is truly the sole purpose of living.  This purpose is accomplished through every believer following God in the timing He has within His plan for their life, whether married or single, whether man or woman, whether young or old.

Being single may be just a season in my life, however, I hope that if God calls me to a life of singleness that I would have the faith required to be obedient to that. To answer the questions posited at the beginning of this post, yes to all. I want to get married one day. I want to share my life with someone one day. I want to have kids one day. I want to have a family one day.  That day is not today and if for me that day never comes - okay, I'm still going to strive to fulfill the purpose that God has called me to, single or not.

To all the married people out there, celebrate your marriage every day by living out your purpose to follow God together. To all the single people, just know that your purpose doesn't start after you say "I do" to a spouse, but rather it began the moment after you said, "I believe" to God.