00:00If perhaps the age is increasing and you're not yet married,
00:04if you are called to singlehood,
00:06it will be accompanied by contentment and action.
00:13What do I mean?
00:14You will be busy with the things of God
00:16and content in the things of God.
00:19You will not be lonely and nursing resentments or regrets.
00:25If you are getting near that age
00:29where you are not able to carry a child
00:30and you are still having that desire to get married,
00:33I can only encourage you, keep following the right process.
00:44Grace and peace to you all.
00:46My name is Mona Lisa.
00:48My question is just that I'm single for a long time.
00:54I know brother Chris has spoke about it.
00:57You interact with people and still your situation remains the same
01:03and constantly, family-wise, you are being pressurized like your age.
01:11You don't have a child.
01:13You are not married.
01:15The pressure is too much.
01:16So, is there anything that I'm doing wrong
01:21or does that mean God wants you to remain the same?
01:26Or, yeah, that's my question about that.
01:30You cannot control the pressure people place on you
01:33or the expectations people have for you.
01:36In this world, especially with how traditional and cultural many people are,
01:43they are going to set expectations, they are going to place pressures.
01:47But the question is, how do you react?
01:50We are not to respond from a place of pressure.
01:54It's about doing what is right.
01:56So, you have listened to the message today.
01:59Ask yourself, have I followed the right process?
02:03That's between you and God.
02:05If you follow the right process
02:07and you are following these principles of, you know,
02:15responsibility, maturity, destiny,
02:17and you are engaged in community
02:19and you have not yet found someone,
02:22don't, as we shared in our testimony,
02:24don't be discouraged and feel that, well, it will never happen.
02:27If God has someone for you,
02:30that is, it's the calling of God for you to get married.
02:32If you play your parts and follow the right process,
02:36you will meet the right person.
02:38It will happen.
02:40Now, in the world, of course, age is a big factor.
02:45They say, oh, but you're getting all what's happening.
02:48And let me say something here.
02:51God designed our physical bodies with certain age-related limits.
02:58So, for females, we can speak freely about this.
03:01Of course, when you reach a certain age,
03:04your body will not be in a position to carry a child.
03:08And that is one of the primary reasons God calls us to marriage.
03:12So, it's not as though we totally disregard age.
03:19No.
03:20As a female, you are approaching an age
03:23where your body would no longer be able to carry a child.
03:26You need to pray more and say,
03:29right, is it God calling me to a life of singlehood?
03:33Or is it that I am not truly playing my parts
03:38when it comes to finding a godly person
03:41if I am ready for marriage?
03:44And I would assume that for most people who reach that age,
03:49they have reached a degree of maturity or responsibility or destiny.
03:53I know that not everyone,
03:54but oftentimes life experience positions us
03:58to be more secure in these areas as our age increases.
04:02So, you have to examine your heart and say,
04:05right, is it that I have not played my parts?
04:09Am I doing the wrong thing?
04:11Or is it God calling me to be single?
04:14Here is the key points I'm making to you, my sister,
04:17and to all of our sisters who are connected,
04:20especially if perhaps the age is increasing
04:23and you're not yet married.
04:25If you are called to singlehood,
04:27it will be accompanied by contentments,
04:32and action.
04:34What do I mean?
04:35You will be busy with the things of God
04:37and content in the things of God.
04:40You will not be lonely and nursing resentments or regrets.
04:47If you are getting near that age
04:50where you are not able to carry a child
04:51and you are still having that desire to get married,
04:54I can only encourage you,
04:56keep following the right process.
04:58Keep following the godly process.
05:00It's possible some people may marry
05:03even at an age where they don't bear children,
05:05but they are covenant partners together for God's glory.
05:09They still have a wonderful companionship
05:11for the rest of their life.
05:12Yes, children is a primary reason for marriage,
05:15but it's possible people could reach an age
05:18where they are not able to have children
05:20and still get married.
05:21The point here is more about fulfillment in God.
05:25If you are not doing the right thing,
05:28you are not in the right place spiritually,
05:31then you're not going to be fulfilled
05:34whether you are single or married.
05:36And that's why I bring it back
05:39to our relationship with God and our spiritual life.
05:42People's pressures, people's expectations,
05:44you cannot control that,
05:46but you can't control the states of your hearts.
05:49You can't control what you focus on,
05:52what you give attention to,
05:54how you take care of your spiritual life.
05:56So you, my sister,
05:57you can listen to this message and say,
05:59right, am I playing my parts?
06:01Am I involved in a community activity
06:04where I meet fellow believers?
06:06Or am I staying alone?
06:07Am I isolating?
06:08Am I nursing pain of the past?
06:11You have to ask yourself,
06:12am I doing the right thing?
06:13If you are following the right process,
06:16you trust God's leading.
06:18And if God calls you to remain single,
06:21he's not going to call you to a life of regrets
06:24and a life of pain and a life of bitterness
06:27because I did not get married.
06:29If God has called you,
06:30he will equip you to manage that scenario.
06:35So this is my encouragement to you.
06:37Yes, I understand why in the world,
06:40of course, when we reach a certain age,
06:42especially as a female,
06:44the pressure may intensify,
06:46but ultimately no one knows you better
06:48than you know yourself.
06:49Are you following the right process?
06:51Think about today's message.
06:54Reflect on this truth in your own life.
06:56If you are following the right process,
06:59know if it's the will of God for you to marry,
07:02you will find the right person.
07:04It will happen.
07:05It will come.
07:06Don't be discouraged if it seems delayed
07:08or if it feels late.
07:09Thank you so much.
07:11Yes, just a quick addition,
07:13actually, with something Brother Chris said in the past.
07:18He said the best way you know you are prepared for a blessing
07:22is when you are content without that blessing.
07:25I'm paraphrasing, but I think actually even in the time you are praying to God
07:32to find that calling, if he has called you for marriage or not,
07:36is you need to allow that contentment in your heart,
07:40though right now you are not married,
07:43because you want to get married for the right reasons.
07:46You want to get married following the right process.
07:49So if that means to wait longer, so glory be to God.
07:54And if you have been called for singleness and God gives you that conviction,
08:00so glory be to God.
08:01But you allow that contentment to come as you are today
08:06because you recognize that your source is God,
08:10not that husband or not that family or not that child.
08:14So that's why also the issue of age,
08:18especially in women, should not pressurize us.
08:21So I just wanted to add that point.
08:28Your hatred for sin must be stronger than your enjoyment of it.
08:36If you love someone and you see them going astray,
08:44please take whatever necessary step to address that issue.
