Thank you, Barry, for pouring your heart into your writing for our benefit. It seems to me your Gospel Coalition piece may be more personal than even the first.
Thinking about your second article, I sometimes wonder if we are being blinded by a perceived need to choose someone, anyone, before the mythical window of opportunity for securing future happiness closes. Sadly in recent years, I have seen more than a few Christian women my age (30s) falling into a trap of pursuing relationships with unbelievers. Thanks to our forefathers, American society has elevated the “pursuit of happiness” to the status of “unalienable right.” As such, a relationship must be obtained, perhaps at any cost. Has this supposition seduced some believers into presuming the same, rather than viewing this good thing as a gift that may or not be given? Contentment in singleness (which in itself is a commitment) is scarcely seen as an option in this myriad of choices. Rather than the apostle’s words in 1 Corinthians 7:32-35 being considered as wisdom, they are dismissed as old-fashioned opinion. I wonder if we may have become so enamored with chasing options that when it comes “time to choose,” we have also forgotten to consider the implications of what is being chosen.
I think that’s a very good observation Tracey. Our sense of entitlement can lead us to “take the law into our own hands”, seizing for ourselves what God is keeping from us. Singleness can be an extremely courageous, intentional, committed choice.
Future Perfect // Present Tense 
Thank you, Barry, for pouring your heart into your writing for our benefit. It seems to me your Gospel Coalition piece may be more personal than even the first.
Thinking about your second article, I sometimes wonder if we are being blinded by a perceived need to choose someone, anyone, before the mythical window of opportunity for securing future happiness closes. Sadly in recent years, I have seen more than a few Christian women my age (30s) falling into a trap of pursuing relationships with unbelievers. Thanks to our forefathers, American society has elevated the “pursuit of happiness” to the status of “unalienable right.” As such, a relationship must be obtained, perhaps at any cost. Has this supposition seduced some believers into presuming the same, rather than viewing this good thing as a gift that may or not be given? Contentment in singleness (which in itself is a commitment) is scarcely seen as an option in this myriad of choices. Rather than the apostle’s words in 1 Corinthians 7:32-35 being considered as wisdom, they are dismissed as old-fashioned opinion. I wonder if we may have become so enamored with chasing options that when it comes “time to choose,” we have also forgotten to consider the implications of what is being chosen.
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I think that’s a very good observation Tracey. Our sense of entitlement can lead us to “take the law into our own hands”, seizing for ourselves what God is keeping from us. Singleness can be an extremely courageous, intentional, committed choice.
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