"Winning God's Way" - Loren Cunningham & Janice Roger
Dari buku.. "Winning God's Way" - Loren Cunningham & Janice Roger
I was single until I was twenty-seven, traveling from country to country as a missionary-evangelist. I longed for a wife and hated being alone. I remember standing on top of the Eiffel Tower, looking out over Paris. The view was stunning, and in my excitement I turned to remark on the beautiful panorama-but no one was there. I felt truly alone.
While I was still in Bible School, I had discovered the passage in I Corinthians 7 where Paul said it was a gift to be single. I sincerely hoped that God wasn't planning to give this gift to me! Time went by while I made some attempts on my own to figure out who was to be my life partner. I saw a wife as part of my necessary equipment as a minister, and there were always plenty of attractive candidates. But still, something was wrong. Then I came to understand that this scripture in I Corinthians was not to be skipped over and left for someone else. I reconsidered: Maybe God did want me to be single for the sake of His call on my life.
I responded by placing my right to be married on the altar. That was a phrase I learned from my parents-putting something on the "altar" was another way of saying, "I give up my rights." I told God. "Okay.I'm willing to never get married, if that is Your Will".
An amazing thing happened. There was a new freedom. No longer was I preoccupied with what I jokingly referred to as The Search. I was able to concentrate on what God wanted me to do next. A few month later, as I continued pursuing God's call on my life, my path crossed that of a vivacious blond in Redwood City, California. She had also just laid her desire to be married "on the altar." God brought us together.
....For family relationships, as with everything else in life, God's principle always works:
"We only win when we give up. As we grasp something, we lose it; when we surrender it to God, we gain it. If we hold our loved ones in a tight grip, we end up losing them. Putting any person first in our lives results in false expectations, disappointment and hurt, and finally alienation. Only God deserves to be first. it doesn't work any other way. If we surrender our families to God, we gain them. We reap new rewards of relationship-deeper relationship with God and, surprisingly, better relationships with family members".
you may be single and wondering what this has to do with you. Perhaps you have grown up, moved away from home and longing for a family of your own. The same key-relinquishment-is just as true for you. You must give up your right to be married and embrace God's call on your life at this particular time. Then He can either release, in His right time, your mate for life, or He can give you greater privileges as a single to minister to Him.
I was single until I was twenty-seven, traveling from country to country as a missionary-evangelist. I longed for a wife and hated being alone. I remember standing on top of the Eiffel Tower, looking out over Paris. The view was stunning, and in my excitement I turned to remark on the beautiful panorama-but no one was there. I felt truly alone.
While I was still in Bible School, I had discovered the passage in I Corinthians 7 where Paul said it was a gift to be single. I sincerely hoped that God wasn't planning to give this gift to me! Time went by while I made some attempts on my own to figure out who was to be my life partner. I saw a wife as part of my necessary equipment as a minister, and there were always plenty of attractive candidates. But still, something was wrong. Then I came to understand that this scripture in I Corinthians was not to be skipped over and left for someone else. I reconsidered: Maybe God did want me to be single for the sake of His call on my life.
I responded by placing my right to be married on the altar. That was a phrase I learned from my parents-putting something on the "altar" was another way of saying, "I give up my rights." I told God. "Okay.I'm willing to never get married, if that is Your Will".
An amazing thing happened. There was a new freedom. No longer was I preoccupied with what I jokingly referred to as The Search. I was able to concentrate on what God wanted me to do next. A few month later, as I continued pursuing God's call on my life, my path crossed that of a vivacious blond in Redwood City, California. She had also just laid her desire to be married "on the altar." God brought us together.
Some people reject the idea of relinquishing to God their right to be married. Often times, they find themselves without inner peace because they cannot rest-they're always on the look out for "The right one," fretting over missed opportunities of the past, riddled with envy when a close friend gets married and "deserts" the single ranks. Those who never relinquish this right to God can find themselves in real trouble later on, when and if they do get married. When struggles and disagreements come, as they do for every married couple, they can be plagued by doubt. An inner voice can accuse; "You never really trusted God to show you your mate. What if you married the wrong person after all?".How much better to give up the right to marriage to the Lord. In His right time, if He sees you can be more fulfilled and effective for Him with a life partner than without, He'll bring the very one that is right for you and for His Kingdom. In any case, as a Christian you will want to have the confidence of knowing that your marriage is firmly fixed in the center of His will. And let me assure you..:::
He will choose a better wife or husband for you than you can. He sure can pick them! I am witness to that!
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