Guest blogger - Rebecca Harding

The Grass is Greenest Where You Are: Trusting God’s Will

by Rebecca Harding

Ever heard the saying “The grass is greener…”? Always wanting something more, the next step, and on and on? I want to reflect a little today on the temptations around that mindset, and how important it is, especially as Christian women trying to live in faith, to truly embrace the season you are in. No matter where you are, no matter where God has you at this point in your life, it is crucial to embrace that point.

This is a relevant topic to me, as I recognize the temptation within myself to constantly look forward to the next step in my life, instead of taking each step as it comes and cherishing it, as it is. As many of you can relate, as a child I always wanted to grow up to be a wife and mother, and when I reached a dating age, I was so eager to meet someone I could truly be with and was constantly discouraged at my lack of success. For years, I wanted nothing more than to be with someone who was “marriage material” (a good Christian man who would love God with all his heart), and it seemed like every man who showed up would be challenged by my eagerness to center a relationship around God, and would back away.

I was frustrated and discouraged until I finally realized that God has a plan for my life, and if I wanted to be who God wanted me to be and be ready for a spouse, I had to focus on being “singular” instead of “single” (Dawn Eden’s words – check out her books, they are incredible and were a huge part of my realization). Let me tell you, of course, as soon as I did that, God opened my eyes to the man I eventually married, a longtime dear friend who had never even showed up on my radar as someone I could be with. Turns out God had been preparing my husband and me for each other, and He took all the possible walls between us and broke them down and put us together. Now, I am beyond grateful to be almost seven months into the most beautiful, peaceful, joyful marriage!

I had to relinquish control of my life and celebrate my singlehood, and God moved me into the next big step of my life when He knew I was ready for it. Now I am fighting the temptation to be impatient on being pregnant and having a baby, and I have to remind myself that God knows what is best. This is especially difficult for me because about three months into our marriage, my husband and I found out that we WERE pregnant, but we lost the baby at about 7 weeks in, which devastated us. We both want to be parents very very much, and were thrilled to find that we were expecting. Now, we are waiting and trusting in God to give us children when it is His will to do so.

Just remember this, an important part of living out our faith is valuing where we are NOW in our lives: when we are single waiting to be engaged, when we are engaged waiting to be married, when we are married waiting to be pregnant, wherever we are… God knows what we need and WHEN we need it. We just have to trust Him.