Marriage Is Like Canoeing
You might compare the single life and the married life to someone who is crossing a body of water. You can take a kayak (usually a one-seater) and have full control of where you go and how fast you get there. Or, you can take a canoe with two seats. If you've ever been in a canoe you know that you have to work together. If you don't, you will end up going around in circles or zig-zagging across the water. It can be frustrating.
Canoes are known for tipping over when those in them don't know what they're doing. But when you are in a canoe with a person who works with you, you have someone to share the burden of paddling, someone to share the journey with.
The single life has its advantages. Like the person in the kayak, you have full control of where you go and what you do. You can give your full attention to God. But the married life also is a blessing. Yes, like taking two in a canoe, it will require work, cooperation, and communication. But you'll have a partner to share the journey with, to encourage one another, rejoice together, cry together, and to work together until you reach the destination.
"Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ" (Ephesians 5:21).
The Dating Stamp of Approval
Michelle Arshad, 24, from Toronto, Canada, has had it with traditional dating and trying to find Mr. Right, so she's taken matters into her own hands. Or, taken matters to others' hands. Or, well, something like that.
Ms. Arshad has decided to look for Mr. Right in her own, very innovative way. She now visits local bars and hangouts with an assortment of stamps with which to mark prospective "good dating" candidates.
The stamp of choice reads, "You're cute ... You should hit me up."
With the flick of the wrist, she places her stamp of approval on dating (and potentially mating) prospects.
She shared her strategy in a TikTok video which now has over 2.4 million views.
What could possibly go wrong?
Ladies, "cuteness" is a lousy criterion for dating material.
You want a man with a "stamp of approval," all right. But you want to be sure he carries the ultimate stamp. You want a man after God's own heart. A man who carries the Lord's seal of approval.
Next time you're out looking for a date or a mate, make sure the Lover of his soul has already stamped him with His own mark.
Consider 2 Corinthians 1:22. The New Century Version renders it this way, "He put his mark on us to show us that we are His, and He put His Spirit in our hearts to show us that we are really His."
The Message Version renders verses 20,22 this way, "Whatever God has promised gets stamped with the Yes of Jesus. ... By his Spirit he has stamped us with his eternal pledge - a sure beginning of what he is destined to complete."
Before you place your stamp of approval, look for the Lord's first.
People Are Training Wheels, God Is The Ride
Every person you know, given the right set of circumstances, will disappoint you. Many of them probably have already! Who hasn’t been the victim of broken promises, or lying, or betrayal, or even abuse?
Don’t take it too personally. People are fallen, self-centered creatures. Even by human standards, we are all dysfunctional, unable to love the way God intended. So, in order to maximize the benefits of your various relationships, you must learn to keep your dependency on others in proper perspective.
Remember the training wheels that helped you to learn how to ride your bike when you were a kid? You must come to see people as training wheels, preparing you for something bigger.
In these relationships you learned the importance of telling the truth and of keeping promises; you learned how to find comfort and receive assurance; you learned how to serve and to be served. You also learned to look to people for affirmation and inspiration. This dependency was necessary for your social development and maturity.
But at some point, as you became more skilled, the training wheels began to scrape and bump the road, slowing you down. They also prevented you from leaning into the turns and enjoying the full experience of the ride. Training wheels are great for learning how to ride, but eventually, they will begin to hold you back.
Your dependency on people works the same way. At some point, you will discover that dependency on people has made the journey more difficult. Rather than just propping you up, you begin to see that the people in your life do just as much to hold you back.
No one enters the Tour de France with training wheels. Neither can you break free so long as you are riding through life depending on people when you should be leaning entirely on God. For it is only when the wheels are finally removed, and the drag and restrictions are gone, that you will finally be able to ride freely.
The hope and trust we have been taught to place in people finds its rightful place in God. Unlike people, God loves us perfectly. The comfort He offers us isn’t temporary or fickle, but eternal and sure. He will never lie to us, never betray us and never abuse us. He is our joy and our reason for living.
So, never forget, people are training wheels, God is the ride!
"This is what the Lord says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord ... “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him" (Jeremiah 17:5,7).