There are basically two entirely opposite views that Christians take towards dating and marriage. Allow me to grossly over-simplify and caricature them.
Some Christians believe that because God’s in control, there’s a Mr/Miss Right out there somewhere, and all I have to do is wait until he/she turns up, then you’ll live happily ever after with your perfect match.
Others believe that you pretty much have half the world’s single human population to pick from, and that all of them will be ok in some regards, and bad in others. You’d better just accept that marriage is tough, and put lots of effort into it.
Here’s what I think, as a married man: Anna (my wife) was my Miss Right. I know this as an absolute fact, because I married her. God’s in control, so the one he preordained to be my wife is my Miss Right (that’s Mrs Right to you). And I was her Mr Right.
But here’s where it gets complicated. Right up to the point that Anna became my wife, I had no way of knowing whether she was my Miss Right or not. So imagine with me that instead of meeting Anna I’d met someone else and married them…would I have missed out on my Miss Right? Simple answer: no, because she wouldn’t be my wife.
Conclusion for single people who want to get married but haven’t met Mr/Miss Right yet: Stop waiting around! You’ll end up being disillusioned if you think God will simply drop a happily-ever-after marriage into your lap.
Conclusion for married people: Your spouse is the one God preordained for you, so we should acknowledge that happily ever after isn’t a fairy tale, we’re already there…but that needs effort from both husband and wife.
