Preface
Why I wrote this book
Part 1
Before we start this little book that I have written, I think it’s good to first go over the reason why I have written it. Firstly, I think to write anything on spiritual things is quite difficult. God is a relational God, and so He deals with every person differently and in His own way. No one can claim to be a fully-qualified expert in how God works with people. God cannot be put in a box, and so this book only presents my experiences and lessons learned.
No one can also claim to know what God’s specific will (or purpose) is for every single person. Most of our lives we find out what God’s purpose is while we are living – we don’t get some sort of a blueprint when we are born (or, when we are born again). And that’s really the point, I think. It’s about discovery. ‘Life is a journey’ as they say, not a bullet-point document. Some people may come to this book looking for ‘The Secret’ to living single or the ‘Top Five Keys’ to finding your partner, or similar sort of things. But that’s not what this book can offer you. If God was about formulas, the Scriptures would be written in bullet point. This thing is all about relationship.
I decided to write this book because I felt it was necessary to write about living a single life specifically. Most books on this subject focus on romantic relationships and dating. That’s all good of course. But I want to focus on singleness itself, addressing things like loneliness and purposelessness. I want to talk about the fear that maybe we won’t ever find someone, or that we’ve made so many mistakes in the past that it’s too late. I want to talk about contentment – emotionally, spiritually, sexually, and any other word that goes. And finally, I hope to encourage singles to think, breathe, walk and live apostolically. Going to the nations and planting churches are callings on singles as much as couples. God has a plan in all of this. I hope to encourage us to embrace singleness, perhaps even lifelong singleness, with joy and gratitude rather than despair and fear.
