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Singling
July 1, 2024
Hey Clawson Family!
Song:
Scripture:
2 Corinthians 12:5-10
New Living Translation
5 That experience is worth boasting about, but I’m not going to do it. I will boast only about my weaknesses. 6 If I wanted to boast, I would be no fool in doing so, because I would be telling the truth. But I won’t do it, because I don’t want anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in my life or hear in my message, 7 even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.
8 Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. 9 Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. 10 That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Matthew 26:36-46 NLT
Jesus Prays in Gethsemane
36 Then Jesus went with them to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and he said, “Sit here while I go over there to pray.” 37 He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, James and John, and he became anguished and distressed. 38 He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
39 He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”
40 Then he returned to the disciples and found them asleep. He said to Peter, “Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour? 41 Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!”
42 Then Jesus left them a second time and prayed, “My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away[a] unless I drink it, your will be done.” 43 When he returned to them again, he found them sleeping, for they couldn’t keep their eyes open.
44 So he went to pray a third time, saying the same things again. 45 Then he came to the disciples and said, “Go ahead and sleep. Have your rest. But look—the time has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Up, let’s be going. Look, my betrayer is here!”
1 Peter 5:7
7 Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.
Devotional:
Being single can feel a lot like being stuck on the B-Team. People who are in relationships are celebrated with parties when they get engaged and married. Their couple photos, plastered all over social media, are praised and admired. Even children dream of growing up and having a happily ever after just like them.
But what is left for the B-Team? Our days can be filled with loneliness, third-wheeling, jealousy of friends’ relationships, wondering if something is wrong with us, rejection, and questioning if God really has a plan for our lives.
If you are like me, you are sick of sitting on the bench for the B-Team. You wonder if you missed a sign-up sheet or did something wrong that is preventing God from letting you move to a relationship. Maybe you have prayed over and over, asking God to change your relationship status, but nothing has happened. Maybe you have waited so long that you feel there is no longer a point in asking God.
If God hasn’t answered your prayers with a yes yet, then you are not alone. God told many people in the Bible no. In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul asks God three times to remove what he describes as a “thorn in my flesh”. But God did not answer that prayer with a yes. Even Jesus was told no by God in the Garden of Gethsemane when He asked if there was another way to pay for our sins.
But in each of those no’s, God had a bigger plan that He was letting unfold. Paul says his thorn kept him from becoming conceited (2 Corinthians 12:7). Jesus dying on the cross to take away our sins means we can spend eternity with Him in heaven!
If you are not receiving the yes you are looking for, remember God has a plan for your life. And while you wait to see how that beautiful plan unfolds, God is with you caring about every hardship, and question you have in your singleness. Think of the time when Jesus’ friend, Lazarus, died. Jesus knew that He was going to raise Lazarus from the dead, but before He did that, He wept along with those who were mourning. Even though Jesus knew everyone was going to be happy soon, He still felt the hurts and struggles of his friends just like He is doing for you in your singleness.
God knows that singleness isn’t easy. He knows that you may be struggling through it. But as He is letting his bigger plans for your life unfold, He is right there with you, caring about every thought, fear, hope, and dream you have. You are not alone; the most powerful being in the universe is with you, working things out for you, and cares about every moment you are experiencing.
Journal:
Write in your journal what is easy for you to embrace in your current season of life and what things are more difficult for you in this season.
Training:
What will you do this week to get and stay close to Jesus? Share at least one specific action step you will commit to.
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