Which is more important?

[ZiSunka]

Be completely honest now, really search your heart and decide which is more important.

If you had to choose between getting married and serving God to your fullest, which would you choose?

If God opened an opportunity in a mission field where marriage was not possible, would you still go to that field?

No copping out with statments like, "Well, I wouldn't have to choose, I can do both."

Hypothetically, if you had to choose ONLY ONE, which would you choose?

 

[ruthiesmom]

If you put it in the terms of "serving God" or "getting married" well Serving God would be my choice.
But, we go through seasons in our life, and God knows our desires, and if we deeply desire to get married, God isn't going to deny us that. Perhaps being called into the mission field would be butfor a season of work, and after you have done what God placed you there for, then He'd move you to where marriage was a possibility.
"You" being hypothetical.
But I look at it this way...If God has your best interest in hand, and knows all about you, then the best way to go is His. Obedience to His will yields good fruit, and in the long run though it may not feel good right away it is what is best for us.

 

[ZiSunka]

But, we go through seasons in our life, and God knows our desires, and if we deeply desire to get married, God isn't going to deny us that. Perhaps being called into the mission field would be butfor a season of work, and after you have done what God placed you there for, then He'd move you to where marriage was a possibility.

I know an awful lot of Christians who died single even though they deeply desired marriage.

A lot of the Christians who died single, died on the mission field, never having been moved by God to a place where marriage was possible.

So, knowing that no such promise was ever made to us by God, and the fact that it doesn't bear out in reality, we can dismiss that idea right away.

 

[God_follower]

God is not controled by us an interesting thought, but it just aint so. He is a loving God and i have commited myself to being single just as long as God calls me to be. I would really like it and want to get married someday but if God calls us to do something greater then getting married then we should go to do what God says. I would chose to follow God, cuz getting married fulfills a need that we have, but if God wants you to do somehting then He can fulfill that need an infinite amount more then mairrage ever could. well thats my 2 cents on this thingy God bless.

 

[ruthiesmom]

God Follower I couldn't agree with you more. Matthew 15:7 says "If you abide in Me, and My word abides in you, then you will as what you desire and it shall be done..."
The best thing that we can do is to stay in God's will. That's what this scripture says "if we abide..." live, dwell, breathe in Him, and His word lives dwells, and breathes within us...then it comes down to desiring God's will for us. I reached a point back in November where I was praying and told God "Ya know Daddy, it's okay if I dont ever get married, because as long as I have You to sustain me, I will be ok." But see God knows my heart, He knows I have a desire to get married, but I will not chose a mate over my calling, over what God is calling me to do. That leads to an even lonelier life. Sure you'll be married, but would your marriage be at it's best? Sure God will honor that covenant, but would it have been His best? My best advice to anybody is seek firt the Kingdom of God.
If you've been called to the mission field, make sure you've been called. Some times we go where we "think" we should and God isn't really leading us there. Continue to pray about it, and fast. If you are truly meant to go, He will make a way, and open doors that seem impossible to open.
There was this true story I'd heard at church one time. A missionary had come to share it. He said that this girl felt she was being called into the mission field. She didn't wanna go, she had no desire really, not to go abroad like God was leading her. But she couldn't shake what the Holy Spirit had been doing in her. So she obeyed. She collected her money, and essentially grumbled the whole way to the train station...sad because she really didn't want to go. But when she got there, she met a man sitting on his trunk. She began to strike up conversation with him, and found that he was in a "bizarre" situation. He wanted to go into the mission field, but had on means, but God told him to pack his things and get to the train station, that He would provide the way. Well low and behold, she gave him her ticket...and they both suddenly were at complete peace.
I dont remember if that missionary that told the story was the man or not. But I remember the telling of it moved me to the understanding that God calls us places, and requires obedience, not always to make us feel good but to accomplish His plans. Had that girl kept ignoring the tugging of the Spirit, sure God would have made another way for that man, but that girl wouldn't have been blessed in her life.
So does any of that make sense. I'm about obedience. Obeying the Call, no matter how much my flesh screams...because you'd be suprise what sort of blessings and fruit are there waiting for us. God wants to bless us, and it comes with obedience.

 

[ZiSunka]

So does any of that make sense. I'm about obedience. Obeying the Call, no matter how much my flesh screams...because you'd be suprised what sort of blessings and fruit are there waiting for us. God wants to bless us, and it comes with obedience.

Bigger blessings than marriage, a lot of times!

The Bible says:
He who finds a wife finds a good thing. She is a blessing from God. Proverbs 18:22.

It doesn't say, "He who is given a wife by God"...or "He who gets a wife is getting what God owes him"...or "God is fulfilling His promise to everyone when two people get married."

No everyone gets married, even if they desire it.

 

[alonesoldier]

I'd have to choose the God route but the American in me would be sore about having the choice taken from me.

 

[ruthiesmom]

This is true, not everyone gets married, but if you surrender that desire. I finally surrendered it, I said "Daddy this is what I want, BUT You are more important, and if it means not being married, I know you will supply all my needs..."
I surrendered that need, and though right now I am going through an engagement that is ending, and ending badly...I've got this peace. I know that I know God will sustain me.
No body said God owed him a wife.
I became best friends with the man I was going to marry, and suddenly things began to go sour...but I didn't start out with that intention...I didn't start out with a mission to marry him...shoot we just became friends, and things clicked, and 4 years later he finally realized it, and asked me to marry him. But he suddenly got cold feet, and we began to drift apart, and though I am hurting there is a peace that is in me that is sustaining me through this hard emotional time. And I'm not looking at it like God you owe me, or God I wont ever find someone now...Nope! I rest in the fact that God will sustain me through this hard time, and will use this season to minister to other women, as God heals me. That's what I've been called to do, minister to God's girls...that comes first...seeking the Kingdom, Doing His will, not mine.
God loves us, and wants the best for us. It's about seeking first the Kingdom of God. I want what God wants for me, more than I want what I want...I know I will screw up my own plans, but if I follow God then there is nothing for me to worry about.

 

[ZiSunka]

Same here. I ended an engagement that I really wanted, but I just decided that whatever God wanted would be all right with me.

 

[ruthiesmom]

It's tough right now, but I know that without God, I'd be having a much more difficult time. But I know He's got me in His big strong hands.

 

[hotknikkels]

serving God to the fullest!

Hey, do you know that sometimes you can do more when you are married then when you arte single, it all depends on if your spouse shares the same vision!

 

[ZiSunka]

Amen to that hotnikkels! That's why it's so important to choose the RIGHT spouse, and not just someone you feel the hots for.

 

[hotknikkels]

That is what I am looking for in the future, the RIGHT spouse!!!

 

[Bedwyr]

If you put it in the terms of "serving God" or "getting married" well Serving God would be my choice.
But, we go through seasons in our life, and God knows our desires, and if we deeply desire to get married, God isn't going to deny us that. Perhaps being called into the mission field would be butfor a season of work, and after you have done what God placed you there for, then He'd move you to where marriage was a possibility.
"You" being hypothetical.
But I look at it this way...If God has your best interest in hand, and knows all about you, then the best way to go is His. Obedience to His will yields good fruit, and in the long run though it may not feel good right away it is what is best for us.

Sometimes that season lasts a lifetime. Honestly, that's how it is. Lambslove is quite right that this has happened and will happen regardless of our desires (whether they're holy or not).
Think of it like this. I am an aviator IRL. I am passionate about aviation and consider it a miracle and a gift from God. It is my very strong desire to glorify Him with it. But if He were to require it of me (and I've done my best to engage my full emotions in this), I would give it up. Aviation does not define me; it does not tell me who I am even though it is a very treasured piece of me. There is God and there is me. There is no one else and there is no 'thing' else. All else shifts and changes around us (even death is not certain considering scriptural "end-times" possibilities), but the one constant is that there is God and there is me. And that is how it should be.

Bedwyr

 

[ruthiesmom]

i'm not saying anything different really. Like I said..."God if it's just you and me...I'm okay with that." It's about surrendering your desires, and trusting God with your life. Relationships shouldn't define people, but sadly people do let them be the defining point of who they are, and suddenly they are lost and destroyed when they dont work out...but if we allow God to define us...and He is the one constant in our lives, then we will never lose who we are...Make sense?
gotta go...back to other stuff

 

[SoldierofChrist]

If you had to choose between getting married and serving God to your fullest, which would you choose?

If God opened an opportunity in a mission field where marriage was not possible, would you still go to that field?

Well for arguments sake, I would definately go with serving God to the fullest. However, what if you will serve God to the fullest through marriage? In other words, I'm a Bible College student studying to be a pastor. In my opinion, I believe that if I am to become a pastor of a church, I think I could serve God better by having an "other half" to help counsel the younger ladies in the church, something that I as a male would be hard-pressed to do. This is not to say that I'm definately going to be a pastor of a local church, but, if God certainly confirms my calling to that position and not to the mission field, or some other work in ministry, then I believe I, personally, could serve God the most if I were married.

It comes down to if you are placing Christ at the number one spot in your life. Is HE at the top of the list in your priority's? One who is single can place their hobby, or a family member at such a high priority that the line between God and this person or thing is blurred. At the same time, a married person may be loving their wife/husband, yet not focusing on them more than God. It's pretty relative and a very hard question.

Thanks for making us think, lambslove. It certainly got my brain gears turning!