It seems this world is full of different ideologies, facts, figures, and thoughts on concepts of dating and marriage. Lately all I hear is how marriage is no longer sacred and frankly we live in a world where it is easier to hook up with someone and be accepted rather than waiting for the right guy/ girl and get married. I spent this summer trying to test and counsel kids aged 11- 21 coming in to find out if they are HIV positive or not. A 15 year old girl comes in quiet and with kind of an attitude, as we talk I come to find out that not only is she here to find out her HIV status but she just found out today that she’s pregnant. I ask her if she has any Pastor or anyone to talk to about this, she says she doesn’t and that she’s going to have an abortion.

She is no longer with her boyfriend; she has no parents, and wants to finish high school. Another boy comes in: he’s smoking marijuana daily, working in a cemetery now that he’s finished with high school. He doesn’t feel like he can go to college and he’s here because he’s losing weight and afraid his hook ups may have given him HIV. Yet another girl, 14 years old, comes in and does not know what STDs are or the ramifications are of her being with her boyfriend; who is much older than her. Her two older sisters; 16 and 18 already have two kids and no husbands. Honestly my heart feels like it’s going to overflow with pain for these children coming in every single day.  

We get so caught up with whether or not some guy/ girl may like us or whether we can go out alone on a date, get to know them or whether our parents will allow us to go out in a group. Yet, we’re losing focus of something much bigger. Most of us who read this site are so blessed to have generations of Christian heritage, God fearing parents and a really blessed life. We are forgetting or just not realizing the principles that should be leading our lives to live with a greater responsibility and intensity.  

God has been with you and directed your every footstep, if you have been taught to pray daily for Him to do so. When you are young it is easy to go with whatever the rest of your friends are into and lose interest in standing up for something that is harder to stand up for. Dating is not something to just up and say, ‘ok cool let’s go out and get to know each other.’  Our lives are a process of learning and growing more in the Lord and becoming more mature in Christ. God has allowed you to be born into such a blessed life and not have to struggle too hard. We are so blessed to know God at such early ages, be able to grow up knowing how loving God is, to know that He has a plan and purpose for us, and He wants the absolute best for our lives and nothing less.  

The way in which we meet that right person which God has designed just for us will always be unique; it may be arranged, or it may be through an introduction, or it could be someone you meet, or under a rainbow or whatever it may be. Once you meet that person you may not even know it’s the right person, there’s always a process and it is a process of maturity and patience.  

Each of us is unique, our experiences differ and our situations are never exactly the same. Our lives are not going to magically get better once we meet that right person and get married, I am pretty sure that we will still go through different situations where we will need to look to God even more than when we were single. For me I believe we are given seasons in this life where through each of them we should realize that God gives us different opportunities. In these opportunities we can either allow God to use us, bless us, and direct us or not.  

There is a purpose and plan detailed in the palm of God’s hand for each of us, meeting and getting to know the right person will be a part of God’s plan for us and help fulfill what each of us are destined to accomplish. There is a beautiful orchestration of our lives going on as we walk out this life. As a man of God continue to walk out God’s plan for you, growing in a stature and measure of what God is building you to be. As a woman of God you are being beautifully woven into the masterpiece you are intended to be. As you pray and wait and enjoy each season of life God will ordain your every footstep. Remember how blessed you are already, and realize the greater responsibility you have. Understand this life is given so that we can enjoy and stand with a purpose much greater than we could ever comprehend.  

The creator of the universe and the One who created you has created a person just for you. Each and every one in this world has a plan and purpose, you may not have had the opportunity to know your One true Savior from early childhood days, but there is a beautiful and amazing grace given so that you can fulfill that destiny and have the opportunity to allow your Heavenly Father to complete your love story in His very special and unique way.  

The choice remains for you to choose how to walk out the process of knowing and understanding what God has set before you. This is not about looking to what traditions, culture, society, or people may inform you to do, this process of meeting, waiting, and getting to know the right person is about learning to value the plan and purpose God has destined just for you.