Written by Rawlissa Rawls
Jealousy is something that can be viewed in different ways. Some would say a little jealousy can be a “turn on”, others might cringe when they think of the word, or could even go to the length of saying it’s another word for insecurity. When it comes to God, what definition or thoughts do we have when we hear the words, “God is a jealous God”? Do we cringe and think, “well God must be very insecure to feel jealousy”, or do we see it as “God loves us so much that he wants us to idolize him and only him”? This is something that I never took into much consideration until, one night I was reading my bible. Ezekiel to be exact. It was Ezekiel Chapter 16. In this chapter, God was extremely upset with his people and how they had betrayed him. He used a metaphor that I believe we all can relate to. He spoke of Israel as being his wife that he had taken out of the streets and clothed her in the finest linens. Spoiled her and treated her like a real Queen. He showered her with fancy things, and shiny gifts that were imported from all over the world. Gifts of jewelry, bracelets, necklaces, and a crown. Yet, his wife Israel decided to prostitute herself to other gods. In return, this provoked God’s anger and jealousy towards his wife Israel.
I can clearly remember reading that chapter and saying to myself, I can relate to God. I’m sure anyone reading this blog has at some point been in a relationship, and we all have experienced some form of jealousy rather we want to admit to it or not. There might have been an incident where we were jealous, and we might not have even noticed and our spouse pointed it out to us. God wants an intimate relationship with us where we idolize him and not other gods. Again, I know what you’re probably thinking, “I don’t serve any other gods, I worship God and God alone”. True, but what about that Netflix marathon you just completed? A whole ten hours invested on some drama about some fictional characters that have no benefit to your spiritual growth. What about your job or career that takes up so much of your time and it’s your main focus? What about other things that occupy your time and takes you away from spending time with God? Unfortunately, we are all guilty of having idols in our lives it’s just a matter of recognizing them and making the necessary changes so that we don’t have any idols.
Yes, this is a blog about singleness and here is how I am going to relate that chapter and the revelation that was bestowed upon me that night. First, let me just acknowledge that being single does stink, and some days are better than other days. There are days when I’m just fine with being single. I’m fine with not having to come home and discovering that the piece of cake I have been craving all day is no longer there because my dearest husband ate it. Then there are other days where I come home and wish there was someone to share how my day was rather, it be good or bad. I have to remind myself that God has me in this season for a reason. Many times we hear that our season of singleness is so that God can uproot things out of us that are not like him.
He is grooming us to become the woman or man he has called us to be for him and our spouse. These are definitely true reasons, and all are apart of the singleness process, but have we ever stopped to think that maybe God still has me in this season because he’s not ready to share me yet? Have we stopped and said God is known for being a jealous God and maybe he still has me in this season because he wants all of my time. He wants to wake me up in the middle of the night and have an intimate prayer session with me, he wants me to sing worship songs to him randomly throughout the day. He wants me to be able to have a quiet place where he can commune with me and let his spirit rest upon me. One thing about a person who is jealous they tend to only want that person to be with them and only them. Maybe God wants you to be with him and only him for a certain season because he knows that when you get married you won’t just belong to him but you will also belong to your spouse.
Paul speaks about the difference in being married and being single when serving God. He says that when we are married our jobs are to please our spouse and those of us who have a spouse or have had a spouse know how demanding that can be. Marriage is work and that is something that will never change. Now don’t get me wrong here I’m not saying just because you’re married you won’t have a personal relationship with God, because that is just not true. You still have a relationship with God, it’s just you have to find the time to be a spouse and a child of God. When your single, you can get up and go to with out having to consult your spouse or make arrangements. You go and come as you please doing what it is that you want to do and God is quite aware of that. I say all of this to say that maybe we should start looking at our season of singleness in a different way. Start saying I’m so valuable and precious that God isn’t ready to share me yet and he is jealous for me.
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