Where God's Word Meets Our Mess
Let’s say you meet a guy who professes to follow Jesus. He seems to have some great qualities, so when he asks you out, you say yes. You go out with him a few times, and you enjoy getting to know him. But you notice something about him that isn’t so great, and you wonder if perhaps he’s not as ready to date as you thought he was. Is it one of these five things?
I used to hear things like “God can change the desires of your heart,” but I severely doubted it. After all, I had (and often still have) very strong desires. However, over the past few years, God has changed my mind about His ability to change the desires of my heart.
I’m not going to pretend I’m an expert on dating apps because I’m not. I’m also not going to pretend the Bible addresses dating apps because it doesn’t. For those two reasons, I can’t say concretely that using dating apps is or isn’t wrong. However, I still have lots of thoughts and observations about this topic that will hopefully help guide you in your dating app decisions.
The goal of getting a book deal from a traditional publisher has spurred much of my writing in recent years, but I haven’t yet achieved that goal. I’ve learned there’s no formula I can follow to make this dream come true. I’ve also learned a few other important things about writing that I want to share with you.
I recently heard a song called “Flowers” on a Christian radio station, and it’s one of the most beautiful songs I’ve heard. The music in it is amazing, but so are the lyrics. Samantha Ebert finds the balance between raw honesty and genuine hope. It almost feels like she wrote “Flowers” just for me—and maybe you’ll feel the same way after you listen to it.
In Part 1, I admitted that I carried many worries about the future with me throughout college. But I also worried about making friends during college. I wanted to ensure I made “enough” friends, which is honestly a silly thing to worry about because no one can determine how many friends is “enough.” And that’s exactly why I’m writing this post—to encourage you to take the pressure off yourself to make friends and instead trust God to provide.
In His kindness, God sustained me through my first year—and my second, third, and fourth years. But I genuinely don’t miss that season of my life because I spent so much time worrying about things I didn’t need to worry about. My hope is that you’ll learn from my mistakes though. Please please please don’t waste your time worrying—especially about the future—while you’re in college.
Maybe you’ve never dated anyone either—or you’ve dated very few people—and you’re afraid of doing the whole dating thing “wrong.” Unfortunately, your fears about dating seem to be getting worse, especially as you get older. As a fellow inexperienced dater, I want to share an encouraging truth with you that will hopefully help you conquer your fears about dating.
I’m going to be honest with you—I still feel like a failure sometimes, even though Real Recovery was published back in 2022. In the past three years, I’ve learned lots of hard lessons about writing, dreaming, and trusting God. One of these lessons has been particularly hard for me to learn, but my hope is that it’ll ultimately encourage you in your endeavors.
Tizzie's Tidbits of Truth 