Valentine’s Day – A Single Perspective

As a single person, Valentine’s day is second only to the holiday season for making me feel lonely, unhappy, and somehow “less” as a person. This song by one of my favorite groups, Eddie From Ohio expresses it well. You can listen to it here (recommended) or just read the lyrics here. Either way, make sure you listen or read all the way to the end.

Funny song… and pretty much how I feel sometimes. It is often easy to think about and long for the positive things that a relationship provides that we do not have; the companionship, affection, affirmation, or even potential for a family. But for some reason we never seem consider the negatives or challenges that we are also presently free from such as divided time and priorities and relational conflict. Some of the most most intense pain in the entire human experience comes from relational conflict.

Instead of only noticing all the seemingly great couples and relationships around us, we must also consider all of the bad relationships and hurting couples as well. (which are unfortunately maybe the majority) Maybe, just maybe, God is his infinite wisdom is not withholding blessings from us or just making us wait for the heck of it. I know that people like to throw around the phrase “God is preparing you,” but maybe there is another possibility. Maybe he is protecting us from the unimaginable pain and difficulty that wrong relationships bring.

When we are right with God and ourselves and when he brings the right person along, of course all of the positives outweigh the negatives and challenges. But until that point, I would like to suggest that they do not even have the potential to do so. So waiting and trusting God is not only what we are “supposed to do,” it is the best possible thing we can do.

So on Valentines Day, like many other days I am reminded of my singleness and my loneliness. And that is not fun. But at the same time, somehow I am strangely encouraged knowing that God wants to bless me with far more than what my shallow and shortsighted ideas of relationship can even contain.