Here are 3 signs God is putting you through a season of training right now so he can then put you through a season of dating in the future.
And on a quick side note, if you are a Christian single person who wants to prepare now to honor God in your future marriage one day, I wanted to let you know I opened enrollment for AGW University. This is where I offer in-depth relationship training courses and personalized email coaching with me. Hundreds of people have graduated from AGW University so far. Spots are limited and this opportunity will end in less than one week on Tuesday, March 3rd at 11:59pm EST. You can click here for more information.
1. If God Has Highlighted an Area in Your Heart That You Know Will Sabotage You in a Relationship, This Is a Sign God Is Putting You Through a Season of Training Before Dating
I used to work a Christian men’s crisis center here in Cleveland, Ohio. This was a place where we would help men dealing with homelessness, addiction, and mental health issues. One common experience I had with these men was that for months, as one of these guys was going through the program, he would seem fine and you would start to wonder how a guy like this ended up in a place like this. Many of these guys were really smart, funny, social, and just seemed liked normal guys.
But then somewhere down the line they would get triggered by something and you would see a totally different side to them. Sometimes another client there would say something and then the guy would get really violent. Or perhaps he went out and got triggered by someone he ran into on the streets and relapsed back into drugs or alcohol. Or perhaps he would stop taking his medication and his mental health issue would flare up.
My point is, many of these men had a ticking time bomb inside of them and they didn’t know how to deal with those triggers that would make them explode. This same thing happens to us all, and it is very common to happen in the area of relationships.
Some people seem like super mature Christians who are doing great in life, but then they get into a relationship and something in that relationship triggers that ticking time bomb inside of them. An old wound from their childhood, an old wound from a past relationship, an insecurity tampering with their identity, or perhaps just a temptation they haven’t learned how to overcome.
If you know there is something like this in your life that would sabotage you if you got into a relationship, God will often spare you this pain by putting you through a season of training before dating. As 1 Timothy 4:6-8 states:
If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed. Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.”
2. If Your Desire for a Godly Relationship Is Not Equal to Your Ability to Thrive in a Godly Marriage, This Is a Sign God Could Be Putting You Through a Season of Training Before Dating
There are basically two biblical requirements of Christians who want to be married. First, you have to want to be married. Many people worry that God would force them to get married even though they don’t want to, but that is not biblical because God also says singleness is a good thing too for those who desire it (1 Corinthians 7:1-7). The second biblical requirement for marriage is ability.
In other words, God requires certain actions and standards to be met by the husband and wife in that marriage. This is one of the reasons marriages must always be between two adults, meaning a child is not permitted to be married because they are not prepared for this. Likewise, just because you are of earthly age does not mean you are spiritually of age yet.
Notice what is says in Genesis 2:24, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” It says “a man” and not “a boy” will leave his father and mother.
Likewise, a man and woman must be spiritually mature enough for a godly relationship too. So when you read what the Bible says about marriage and then you say to yourself, “I know I’m not ready for that,” this is a sign God will train you before releasing you to date.
3. If You Are Afraid of What You Don’t Know About Dating and Relationships, This Could Be a Sign God Will Put You Through a Season of Training Before Dating
We fear what we don’t know. This is why people who are different than one another are often fearful of each other. People of different races, neighborhoods, or social classes often don’t know each other thus they end up fearing one another. When we don’t know something, our human default position is usually to assume the worst.
The same is true when it comes to relationships. Many people are frozen in fear when it comes to relationships because all they can do is focus on all the situations and issues they are unsure of how to handle. They worry about what to say. They worry about ruining a friendship. They worry about getting hurt. They worry about hurting someone else. Or perhaps they just get stuck in fear because when they think about being with someone it is just a complete unknown – and again, humans often fear the unknown.
In Mark 4 Jesus and his disciples are in a boat, but then a huge storm hits them while Jesus is asleep in the stern. In Mark 4:38-41 the disciples wake Jesus up and ask:
Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
Notice the link between the disciples doubt and the disciples fear. Jesus points out that when they have proper faith in him there is no reason to fear. The same is often true when it comes to fears about relationships. When you have been trained to know God will lead you and teach you, you will then have the faith to overcome all fears with the Lord.
Are you a Christian single person who wants to be in a godly marriage one day?
Do you want to know what biblical and practical steps to take to make sure you are not missing out on a relationship blessing that God wants to give you?
And do you want relationship training that will give you the social tools to interact with the opposite sex in the most effective way possible?
If so, I’ve created three in-depth biblical courses (a total of 28 video classes) designed to walk you through the important phases and steps all Christians must go through before God allows them to be in a healthy marriage. I’ve also created a new course (5 more video classes) about online dating that I will tell you more about in just a minute. All the courses are in video and writing. You will have life-time access to all these courses.
By enrolling you also get lifetime access to the private Facebook group that is for AGW students only. This is where all the AGW University students go to encourage each other and build relationships with one another. There are hundreds of single men and women in this group. People are sharing with each other what they learn here, doing dating diaries to give the group updates on their dating efforts, and people are asking important questions to be helped by one another. The community in this private FB group is truly amazing.
And if you enroll before 3/3/2020 (11:59pm, EST.), I have two really valuable bonuses for you as well.
The first bonus is my new online dating course which I mentioned before. This course is called The Effective Online Christian Dating Plan: A Powerful Strategy for Christian Singles Who Want to Be Married. In this course I will teach you how to know if God is leading you to try online dating, how to avoid the common mistakes Christians often make that will ruin your experience with online dating, how to properly fill out your dating profile, how to properly message someone you are interested, and tons more tips that will really improve your results with online dating.
The second bonus is 3 months of one-on-one email coaching with me. This is where you can share your personal story with me and we can apply the course content to your unique circumstances together.
(Please Note: The email coaching offer may end before 3/03/2020 if all the spots get filled.)
The deadline to enroll is coming quickly so if you are interested in these courses, click here to check out all the course content before enrolling.
