you are worthy

Okay Brad, I’m not usually one who comments or responds to blog postings but I just gotta thank you for your obedience to the nudging of the Holy Spirit leading you to encourage Samantha that day. It was your obedience that day which led to the creation of this video that God Himself ordered JUST FOR ME!! I am “the single again” lady that you mentioned. I have been single now for 8 years and can see how God has taken those years to refine me and mold me and change the way I think and behave and dress……and so on and so on! It’s amazing that you spoke this message today. I have been struggling with this singleness issue and bargaining with God(you know how we do) and finally am at the point where I say to God, “if you want me to be like Paul and use me as a single person, then God you’re gonna have to change my desires and make me okay with being single.” I had another “stranger” just the other day take me to a verse in Joel that says God will restore the lost years in my life. The verse referred to locusts. I will have to do a little more research on that but the message is clear now!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you for allowing God to use you!!!!

Hey girls…you see now why our conversation on the bus in El Salvador was so life-changing! Recently I told friends “I wish I could transport everyone back to that bus ride/conversation so they could truly feel the sweet tender presence and power of the Lord.” Ta-da! Brad’s vlog captured that moment well! I pray you take these words and soak them in. Rub them like a balm into the hurts/pains/disappointments. It’s truth.

Brad, brother, thank you again for your faithfulness to our King. Your words have blessed me all over again. Blessings to you my friend.

~Sam

Thank you to Sam and Brad for your amazing encouragement and inspiration. You see, I’m about to be the “single again” girl and what you have said has touched me. And your right!! I can feel God refining me through this time. And I remind myself that he wastes nothing! I still have the desire to find love, but I’m working on patience and seeking after God’s own heart. It’s not always easy but with encouragement like this, it makes the burden light!! Thank you so much!!!
With Love,
Bethany

Wow! I was truely inspired by your vlog! The whole thing was real and based on scripture…what meant the most to me was when you said we are worth the blood of Jesus Christ…that is our worth!,not what others think or if we are or aren’t in a relationship. I’ve been in a relationship with a Christian man now for a month. He is wonderful and I am happy…we will see! Hope to see you on here again!!

Thank you Brad for reminding us that God loves us and sees us as beautiful. I pray that God become my husband and that IF his intention is that I never remarry again or have children, that God help me be okay with that. I want God to be my everything and fulfill my life completely. Yes I am only 32 and going through a divorce and people always say that someone else, better will come into my life but the reality is that he already did…God. I do hope someday God bless me with a husband and kids but if that is not his plan for me then I HAVE to be obedient and accept it. The reality is I don’t know what God’s intention is for me so I have to be ok with all possible outcomes.

Hey Brad, your web cast was super!!! Straight from Gods heart… to us single ladies.. thank for the encouragement and for being so sensitive….. Waiting for God’s best is the only way to do life… Good is ok, but God’s BEST is way better!! Blessing to you.. kathy

Wow! this is just what I need to hear at this point in my life. I have been struggling with my singleness for a long time. I have often wondered how I could miss something so bad that I never had. I am really how do you miss a husband you never had or children you don’t have.

Anyway!I am 26 years old (will be 27 in two weeks) and I have never been able to understand why God would keep me single, even with dating. I haven’t dated anyone in my adult years and sometimes I find that embarrassing to admit. (I even thought of erasing that part from what I’m writing now.) But, I read in an article from Crosswalk Singles, many months ago…the author put it like this “if you are single, God is most likely protecting you from something.” (Maybe not exact words, but close). Anyway, that has been stuck in my head for months since I read that article. I was thinking earlier “What is God protecting me from?” Of course, I don’t’ know for sure, but my guess is several things. First, he is protecting me from the heartache of being in a relationship that goes no where. Second, he is protecting me from divorce and my future children from it. ( I am from a broken home with divorced parents and I know first hand the heartache it causes) Third, he is protecting my family (future husband and children) from being raised in a Non-Christian home (which I am also from). God is protecting me in all these ways and I’ve decided that instead of complaining about not have the husband and children, I am going to be thankful that He is preparing my heart, my spirit, and mind to be the wife and mother He wants me to be. Like I said before, I come from a broken home, a home with no real morals, and I didn’t grow up in church. I want my children to have the Christian home background, and I know that doesn’t mean we will be perfect. It just means that whatever happens we will rely on God to get us through it.

I don’t know why God has chosen to keep me single, and I don’t know for how much longer I will be single, but I do know that everything happens for a reason and in His perfecting timing. I have to learn to not rush God, because He’s there waiting for me. He knows what is going to happen.

Brad, Thank you for doing this. It is always amazing to hear some encouragement from the man’s point of view.

Jennifer

Brad,
I just wanted to thank you so much for your vlog. I am 25 and struggle greatly with being single. The words God gave you for this spoke so much to my heart. Among not feeling worthy, I have thought about what I should be doing to find the right guy-how I could change myself so that the right guy would find me worthy. Recently I have even considered dating websites, which is something I personally have been strongly against (I am not saying they are bad at all-just not something I have wanted to explore at this time). What you said about resting was exactly what I needed to hear. The Lord created the Universe, hung the stars in the sky-He is clearly capable of bringing me the man that He has chosen.
I also have been very guilty of thinking “men have it so easy-if they want to get married they can, whenever they want.” After hearing your vlog I realize that is not necessairly the case. You showed me that this topic isn’t something that just women struggle with, but men as well. Thank you for showing me that truth. Thank you to both you and Sam for your honestly and openness.

This was just so cool! The part about resting in God’s hand while He molds & fashions us then finding someone who is resting there, too – thank you, Brad for being odedient. You’ll never know how much it has helped so many of us!

This was a really great vlog! I am 28,SWNK and only in the past 6 months have I become really content where God has me. I am thankful that I am not married yet because I know that God is not only protecting me, but protecting my future husband from any of my yuckiness (or baggage if that is what you want to call it) that God is wiping off of me as I grow in my relationship with him.

God is good!!!

Hi Brad,
Don’t know if you remember me from Stonegate but my name is Diana Dominguez and I am Nick Luevano’s mom. I am doing the One Year Chronological Bible Study online with Wendy Pope from Proverbs 31 and she had a link to Samantha’s site and then a link to yours!
That was really an encouraging vlog! Great words of wisdom!
Hope all is well with your family!
I’ll have to tell Nick about this…I know he’s going to crack up!

God Bless,
Diana

I think Brad is very wise. In fact, his story reminds me a lot of my husband’s. My husband was almost 30 when we were married five year’s ago. I had just turned 21. I remember when we met, I was so happy and content with my singleness though It took me awhile to get there. I truly believe that when you are content with your own singleness and your relationship with the Lord is strong, that is when he will bring someone into your life, when you least expect it or see it coming. Marriage is tough and takes a lot of work, but also very rewarding. I am 26 and have a full plate. I want to encourage each of you single ladies because I know how you feel, as I have once been there myself. When I said my vows, I never knew what was in store for me. Did I truly meant what I said? Yes, of course I did! Did I realize how difficult things would be for me now? No way! Let me explain. My husband was in the Army when we met. The plan was for him to do his time which was 6 years and get out and use the money for college so he could pursue his dreams of working in the film/movie industry. Sadly, this will never be his reality as he was almost killed in Iraq in 2006. My husband is 35 has a brain injury, PTSD and is 100% disabled and we have 2 children under 5, the youngest being 7 months. He can’t drive, has awful headaches, is incredibly irritable, is inappropriate in public, is almost nothing like the man I married, and is at times like a child himself. Those vows that I made were a promise. I have seen many marriages in the same situation fizzle like crazy. In fact, we are one of the few that I know of that are still married from his former company.

I say all this to show you that God always has the ultimate plan, perhaps you aren’t ready for all that marriage takes, maybe God is still shaping not only you, but your future husband. I remember my husband telling me he had a list. Over his single years, he was constantly teased for not having a girlfriend, people often assumed he was gay. His list had the attributes his future wife would hold. The items on the list were pressed on his heart by God. I was the only one that met all of the things on it. Some of them were incredibly silly, but others were very important. We only knew each other for 6 months when we married. We both just knew that was who God had for us and things have never been the same since that day. Even with all that we have been through I still thank God everyday for such a wonderful husband. We are truly blessed and I pray for each of you to give the Lord all of your thoughts and feelings and cling to him during the lonely days. He is good and faithful. God bless you all!