Singleness and Faith

As much as I am adverse to writing posts about the single issue, occasionally there is something that I feel is helpful to say.

2 weekends ago, after my first week of the new job, I went to 'A day on the Green' in Mudgee. It was quite fun. While at first it didnt bother me, the fact that everyone else in our group of 12 was with their significant other (and I was really tired from the first week of work) started to make me feel pretty sad. This wasnt helped by the fact that after a few bottles of wine had been drunk by the non-drivers, couples were being fairly snuggly which made me feel further left out and reminded of the lack of someone to snuggle with.

So, as I am driving the car back, I mention to one of my passengers that I was feeling pretty sad about my singleness. His response, which is one that I have heard a number of times was "Stu, you just have to trust God".
Now on face value, this comment seems quite true. In all aspects of our life we are called to trust in God. The thing that both my friend and I didnt realise is that I AM trusting God with it. Just because I find it difficult occasionally, doesnt mean I am not trusting God.

In recalling the conversation and thinking on it, two bible verses particularly come to mind:
Hebrews 12:4-11
"In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons:
"My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
because the Lord disciplines those he loves,
and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."

Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it."

and James 2:20-24
You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend. You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone."

From these verses (and others) I believe that I AM trusting in God. I am enduring hardship as discipline and my faith is accompanied by deeds. I havent gone off and found a non-Christian girlfriend, or picked up and slept with some girl I met at a nightclub. Nor have I given up on God and decided not to go to church anymore becasue I am not getting what I want.
I may find it difficult sometimes but I can see through my actions (and my feelings most of the time) that I am trusting God with this.
Although it may be hard sometimes, that doesnt mean I am not trusting God. My friend needs to know this so that when he and I talk about these things, he isnt inadvertantly saying something that isnt true, and I need to remember this so that when I feel sad about being single I dont heap on top of that guilt for not having enough faith in my creator and saviour.

I hope this helps some out there.
Stu

Moved

Thanks to some awesome help, all of my stuff now resides in Canberra. Well, techically it is west Queanbeyan but it's just easier to say Canberra.
Big thanks go out to Doug, Mark, Al and Irwan who gave up a whole day to load the truck and come to Canberra with me. Honourable mentions go to Dave Gray and Kester who kindly helped me load the truck in the morning. Also, a big thanks to Adam Clay my ex-housemate for doing such a great job on helping clean in the week prior to the move.
Saturday morning I picked up the truck from Budget at 8:00. We packed it and were on our way to Canberra by about 10:30. Got to Canberra about 1:30. Unloaded and hung out with the one new housemate and her boy till about 3:00. Drove back, took the old fridge and Dave Gray's old bed to TOD. Dropped the truck home and since Doug was alone that night (it was Lisa's hens night), we watched a movie. We ended up seeing "Fast and the furious - Tokyo Drift". Very typical fast and furious movie with dumb plots and even dumber ideas (such as, lets solve problems by racing cars). However, there was lots of cool cars and well done driving scenes so, for a simple movie after a big day of moving, it was ok.
Yesterday was a massive slog. After getting up I basically cleaned the house the whole day and packed the rest of the stuff into my car. I had missed alot of kitchen things in the initial pack so my car was pretty full. There was sooo much cleaning, sweeping, steam cleaning, mopping, oven cleaning and stuff. I went to church and came home and kept going. I went to bed at about 12:30 after everything was done! Phew! Oh well, it's done now. As I closed the door on the place I felt a little sad as there were alot of fun times there.

All Systems Go for Launch

Well, I have started work at the new job and it is really quite good.
They are quite appreciative of my experience and have me doing all sorts of things like creating scopes of work and organising subcontracts to be sent out and prices revised. The hours are tougher but when I move down to Canberra I think it will settle down a bit.
I have found somewhere to stay n Canberra. Quenabeyan technically. I found it through the church I will go to (crossroads). It is a massive house with 5 bedrooms, 4 loungerooms, 3 bathrooms including a bidet and a spa bath. It is with 3 girls at the church. I understand that some people may have minor 'be careful' type issues however I think that it will be really good. Particularly to eliminate some dumb habits I have formed by living (essentially) alone.
This weekend I am moving my stuff to Canberra. I hired a truck from Budget and have got a couple of the guys from church coming over to help. Whilst the stuff moves and the townhouse in Wollongong is no more, I will continue to work in Sydney, stay at Dad and Helen's house during the week, and be in Wollongong during the weekends for the next few weeks. Originally they said that my time in Sydney would span a month but it may end up being two.
Other than that, I went to U2 on Friday night and it was awesome. Good sound, great lightshow and good music made for a fun night.
Will write more soon.