The most engaging life I've ever had

exciting, fun, a little intimidating, definitely worth it.

4.25.2005

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Fireside chat last night was so cool! We looked at Philippians 2 and the lives of Timothy and Epaphroditus ~ right up there with Shamgar for the best name ever.
I got signed off for my Instrument Flight test this morning. I found ou that I was two points short of an A in Commercial Ground even though I aced the final. So I did a few quick worksheets and COMMERCIAL GROUND IS OVER!!!!! :) Big Smiles :)

My tulips finally bloomed! They are purple. But not this color of purple. More of a really deep velvet purple. They would have gone really well with some yellow flowers that were just starting to pop up, except the evil jeep villain decided to drive through the flower bed again and smashed them.

Now as I said yesterday, Eric helped me deepen my confusion. I think that was wrong. I just did it to myself. I am confused about relationships. I grew up with the mind set that it was not really good for a guy (me) to even look at a girl. This presupposition was confirmed by Matthew 5:28: But I say to you that whoever LOOKS at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. And by all the verses in Proverbs about the strange woman. Paul, in 1st Corinthians 7 especially in vs 32-33 clearly states that being married makes you worldly and keeps you from thinking about Christ. Add to that the fact that Jesus and ALL the godly men in the Bible stayed single, and Joseph physically ran away from a girl, and looking at a girl made David sin and you have a pretty convincing case that females are just bad stuff. They were the primary threat to my relationship with Christ and they are everywhere.

But then I came across the words I put in small print in Matthew 5:28 and Proverbs 18:22 ~Whosoever finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor of the Lord. and A prudent wife is from the Lord (Prov 19:14) and It is not good for man to be alone (Genesis 2:18). So I was like ok maybe I was wrong. Maybe girls aren't all bad, I mean if they are anything like Sugar and Spice (my sisters) they are probably nice and considerate and maybe even fun to hang out with. So now I can maybe say more than "hi" without taking away any of my relationship with Christ, and maybe even building it up a little. But getting married is still a long shot- I want to give all of everything I have to the service of my Lord and getting married will force me to provide for her, and take away some of the reckless abandon with which I can currently dispose of myself.

So Saturday night we looked at Proverbs 18:22 again and I noticed that it says "Whosoever FINDS a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor of the Lord." I was like "Wait a minute! This is not cool. Does that mean that I am supposed to LOOK for a wife? I mean you really can't be serious." But the words didn't change and the questions persisted. So this is a very new concept to me and I'm trying to find out that it is wrong. If God wanted me to get married He would let me know by .... oh I don't know.... A voice from heaven or the council of a pastor or something.

So that is my great contention. What do you guys think? Are we supposed to actively seek out a wife? Won't that lead to complications and huge problems if you guess wrong? And you girls, what do you think about being found? Does that involve being lost or hiding something maybe?

Anyway this post is already far to long and I must clean my room now. Happy Reading. †

7 Comments:

At 4:04 p.m., Anonymous Anonymous said...

Not lost, not even usually hiding. Undiscovered by the right man.
(And, I suppose, hiding from the rest)

 
At 7:30 a.m., Blogger Jared said...

"guess"?? There is no guess. There is no lost-and-found. God's plan is much better than this. It includes a righteous seeking, founded upon God's Word and prayer.

the thing missing from this thought-train is the grace of God. There is no perfect woman. But (Lord-willing) there is a woman perfect for you. Should you look for a wife? Yes. Unless you have some very clear reason why you believe God wants you to stay single.

anyway, there's my first cent. Maybe my second cent will come later.

 
At 8:04 a.m., Blogger Shawn said...

Well, I'll keep this short, if for nothing else than that I'm sitting in Mitch's CFI Ground class right now (gotta love his angry rants at 0730).

Simply put, Jared's on the right track. I look forward to his second cent (if there is one coming).

 
At 4:59 p.m., Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dare I comment? I think I dare. Joshua, married life is not a distraction to your love for the Lord. Ecc4:9 Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work. If one falls down, his friend can help him up, But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Someday, Lord willing, you will know He has a wonderful helpmeet for you, some one to be your companion and completer. Together you will be able to do so much more for the Lord than either of you could do alone. There are some, a few, that the Lord calls to the single life. It is not the standard call. Yes, Find implies a search. But your focus should be not on necessarily finding her, but preparing yourself to be a wise and Godly husband for her. How will you know if she is the one. It's been 25 years, but if I recall correctly, You'll know.
Keep up the good work of working through His word! I thank Christ Jesus, our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to His service (I Tim 1:12)
(See, I told you I would post sometime, now you know why I don't do it often, they are always toooo long!)
~Mrs. Reinhardt

 
At 8:31 p.m., Blogger Jared said...

Three cheers for Mrs. Reinhardt! I will take her post as my second cent. Pray for a godly wife, prepare yourself to be a godly husband. wonderful.

 
At 9:00 p.m., Blogger Josh said...

Thanks DoubleL18. Your comments are just the perfect length

 
At 3:06 p.m., Blogger Elizabeth said...

This is a voice from heaven, or the counsel of a pastor, or something. OBEY THE SCRIPTURE! All of it.

It's fun to see you squirm with this one, Josh. It is helpful to remember - and it is often forgotten - that Paul's words in 1Co 7 were written in a time of social and cultural distress (see 1Co 7:26 & 7:29). In times of terrible distress and upheaval it isn't wise to get married for obvious reasons, but under normal circumstances it is God's plan for almost all people to marry - see Gen 1 & 2. Some are called to singleness, but it is not the norm and is an extraordinary gift. That said, marriage shouldn't be rushed either.

All in God's time and in his way as others have noted.

 

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