by Betty Overstreet
”They are real. They are alive and well in our world. Christian singles, searching for each other. However, it seems especially hard for single women to find where the single men hang out!
Usually when we hear the term, Men of God, it is describing a minister, pastor, or priest. Those men represent a very small percentage of the men of God present in our lives or perhaps not present in our lives. A Man of God, to me, is just that. A man who loves God, puts his love for God above all things, and loves and respects his family and friends. I am learning that there are many, many Men of God out there. We just have to ask God to help us find them, when He feels the time is right.
I was a single Christian woman for a few years following my divorce, hoping to someday have a Christian man in my life. It would indeed be a new experience for me. Coming from a family in which the head of the household was an alcoholic, my two brothers began drinking from a young age. It seemed that most of the men I knew were unfaithful to their wives and finally the ultimate sadness: a husband who was unfaithful after 14 years of marriage. I’m afraid I was very doubtful there was a trustworthy man alive!
Having been married to two men, neither of whom were Christian, my life was full of distrust and unhappiness in relationships. Then my life took a drastic, wonderful turn. I was given a gift. A chance to change the direction my life had been going. My gift was a wonderful new church home where I saw relationships between husbands and wives that were different from any couples I had ever been close to. I met couples who genuinely love and respect one another. I met a couple of men in my singles group who were very serious about their faith in God, both of whom became my very special friends. I have learned through their friendships that there truly are men who believe in monogamous relationships and celibacy. This is almost too good to be true! But it is true. For those of us who have been married most of our lives this is a very hard life to live, but I was ready to follow their lead, with a lot of help from our Lord!
One weekend I had the opportunity to meet with Christian singles from all over the state at a four-day conference at Mt. Herman Conference Grounds in Santa Cruz County and discovered that there are many, many single men just like my two friends.
This conference was a truly awesome experience. I saw men and women exchanging ideas, desires, longings, hopes, dreams and heartbreaking stories of the past without embarrassment or shame. The men at this conference were not afraid to laugh and weep together or hug one another in friendship.
We had very knowledgeable speakers, wonderful music, good food and fellowship with other Christian singles. This is such a great way to meet new friends and perhaps, just perhaps, that man and woman whom God has chosen will bump into each other and a friendship will begin that will someday lead to marriage vows.
It was stressed to us at one of the meetings that we shouldn’t worry about finding the person God has chosen for us. In answer to one woman’s question about how to find a mate, the speaker, Doug Stevens, told us that we don’t have to search for the mate, “God has our address.” He will know how to get us together when the time is right. We all thought that was an interesting idea and it became the catch-phrase of the weekend. One of the speakers stressed to the men that they must wait for a woman of character. This really left an impression on my heart because it made me realize that I was not yet mature enough in my faith to be the woman who would be right for the man I wanted in my life! What an eye opener! Who me? I have always thought of myself as being quite a catch. I had to except that I had a large amount of growth to experience before God would give my address to the right man.
We need to memorize the following verse because it is very important: Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 2 Corinthians 6:14 (NIV) I believe that anytime a Christian marries or dates a non-Christian our faith or faithfulness can be weakened or totally destroyed. We must be faithful to our love for Christ and follow His teachings.
Don’t settle for less than God has planned for you. Don’t spend your time searching for the right man or woman. Spend your time growing in Christ and when the time is right HE WILL KNOW YOUR ADDRESS!
Betty Alawine Overstreet is one of “God’s Gals” according to her Internet Magazine, “Inspirational Moments”. Betty lives in Northern California with her husband Gary . He is her partner in their music ministry providing Old Time Gospel for Church events.
