There is nothing that compares to the joy of being in the right place at the right time. You get the feeling that everything has just happened exactly as it was supposed to. Some folks call it déjà vu, but I believe it is a divine positioning that happens when we’re in sync with God’s timing. Romans 8:28 tells us, “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” Sometimes we forget the first part of this verse. It’s the amazing statement that “GOD causes…” You and I don’t have the power to make EVERYTHING work together for our good, not even on our best day. It is clear from Heavenly Father that we need to rely on Him for this. And there are no exceptions. We are to rely on Him to cause everything to work together for our good in every aspect of our existences, this includes dating and marriage.
When you’ve been waiting year after year to meet a person that is compatible, you might find it challenging to continue believing that things are going to work out for you. However, just because your eyes have not yet landed on the opportunity you’re seeking, it doesn’t detract from the truth that there are just as many good men out there as there are good women. Some of us don’t believe this because of the number of dating hiccups, mishaps, and missteps we’ve encountered. We’ve run across the wrong person too many times and have allowed pessimism to rear its ugly head. One of the realities that most mature believers in the Lord Jesus Christ understand is that the level of our desire for something is going to be tested. Sometimes there is a lot we have to go through before the manifestation of our desire takes place. We have to be up for the task. And not only must we be up for the task, we must recognize that we need to be spiritually prepared so that we minimize hiccups and recognize pitfalls before they happen.
God tells us in Hebrew 11:6 that we must have faith in order to please Him. We must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him. One of the power-packed words in this truth is “diligently”. This is a really grown-up word because it involves persistence and consistency. It involves a discipline that falls right in line with God’s nature. When you’re in the boxing ring with life, you go in for round 1, get knocked down; get up, then go back for round 2. When we’re talking about wanting the blessing of a relationship, it’s even more rigorous because we’re asking to take care of another individual’s heart. That’s no small thing, and our ability to steward this responsibility in a way that is pleasing to God is going to be put to the test.
We must be clear; God is not sitting on His throne doing nothing but pointing at this or that person to receive the blessing of a spouse. He’s not withholding the blessing of crossing paths with their Mr. or Mrs. Right. He has designed the universe in such a way that it fully cooperates with the purposes He has set forth. Ephesians 1:11(NKJV) tells us that we have received an inheritance, you and I, because we have been “predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will.” God is always and forever in control. So, when you and I are firmly anchored on the trajectory to fulfilling our purpose according to His Will and Plan, the desires of hearts will be made manifest.
We don’t have to know all the details of our purpose, but again, we have to be on a trajectory where if God says, “Go left!”, we’ll recognize and perceive the directive and hop to it. To this end, there are two components that have to work together to cause us to be on a path where opportunities for blessings reveal themselves. These two components are preparation and positioning. Preparation is the practice of prayer, meditation, communion and fellowship with God by following the example of Jesus Christ, as He guides us through the Holy Spirit who dwells within us. John 16:13 tells us that the Spirit will lead and guide us to all truth according to what he, the Spirit, hears from the Lord Jesus Christ. This is such an integral truth to partnering with the person that is destined to walk through life with us. God will direct us to this person through the Spirit, but you can’t follow a directive you can’t hear or don’t understand. We must be spiritually prepared by the actions we take to grow in the Spirit.
A lot of the frustration we face with dating and with life in general is because we’re out of place, we’re not in position according to God’s Will and Plan for our individual lives. In Luke 18:18, a religious leader asked Jesus what he should do to inherit eternal life. This person had made a habit pattern of fulfilling all the religious dos and don’ts and told Jesus as much. Luke 18:22(NLT) tells us, “When Jesus heard his answer, he said, “There is still one thing you haven’t done. Sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” So even though the religious ritual dos and don’ts were taken care of, the man’s heart was not in the right place.
Looking at the answer Jesus laid out for him, you and I might be tempted to think, “Wow!!! That’s a lot.” But here’s the thing we don’t often confront; we expect a lot. We expect that we’ll meet the person of our dreams, live a fulfilling life, and when this life is over, go to that great by and by. We expect the sun to shine every day, to have water to drink and food to eat, and to breath in and out air every moment of each day. We expect our families and friends to enjoy all these wonderful blessings too, and we seldom give God the glory and gratitude He so richly deserves for providing these yummies.
This man in Luke 18 had riches and possessions. He was elevated in rank and status, and he personally placed a lot of stock in his position of authority. Leadership under the Lord Jesus Christ requires a mentality of service and humility. God doesn’t want us to be poor, He wants us to have a heart of compassion and understanding for the poor. This man didn’t have such a heart, and because he didn’t, Jesus Christ told him that training would be necessary. This training involved getting his heart right for true ministry and service, the kind that each of us is called to.
Love for his possessions was taking up too much room in the religious leader’s heart. This is why Jesus told him, “Listen, you’ve got to get rid of the stuff that’s weighing you down. You can’t even see opportunities to be a blessing and receive a blessing because of all the baggage that is blocking your way. Release that stuff. Sell your possessions and bless the poor with the earnings. Then follow me so I can show you how to faithfully steward and care for the things that really matter.”
Positioning is the practice of releasing the things that are blocking you from moving forward in Christ. It is releasing your feet from quicksand. In Revelation 3:20(NLT), Jesus Christ said, “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.” Jesus Christ continually stands at the door of our hearts, knocking. He wants to bless us and help us release the blockers. He said IF we hear his voice and IF we open the door, he will come into our hearts and make himself cozy and comfy. Our problem is that we’re not hearing his voice. We’ve got too many other things going on, too much noise from the chatter of the world—social media, gossip, and other things that don’t have nothing to do with the Kingdom. Any time we expect to receive from heaven, we must get into position by releasing some things that are no longer useful to our journey forward.
God is always working things out for your good, but you have a part to play as well. You must spiritually prepare and get into a position of increase to see it materialize in your life. James 2:26 tells us that faith without works is dead. In other words, like every other aspect of life, in the area of relationships, we need to back our desires with actions that demonstrate we will be persistent and consistent. We must show that we will not allow our relationship with the man or woman to take centerstage over our commitment to honor our relationship with God. Most assuredly, the devil will test this, because loving anything above our love for God allows the enemy to steal the blessing. Never give him that opportunity. ■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“God is Always Working Things out for Your Good” written for Crazynlove.com ©2019. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!