The practice of rebounding occurs during basketball, but also during dating relationships. It is used to describe a new association, which occurs by ricocheting from the door slamming shut on a past relationship. The person who is rebounding falls for one of the first people to give them attention after their separation from their mate or date.
They quickly form a commitment without consulting the Lord. This is tragic. In new relationships, we should take our time and seek the Lord's will in them. We need to pay attention to every red flag that pops up during our interaction with this new person. It is far better to live alone than to shackle oneself to someone, which is not God’s will for us (Proverbs 21:9, 25:24; Proverbs 17:1).
We need to spend quality and quantity of time with any new person. Carnal attraction is the main reason many people choose a mate; yet, this often wanes with familiarity and will not sustain a long-term relationship. If we do not develop a friendship and a genuine caring connection, our new union may not support us over the years ahead.
We will end up in another devastating circumstance or heading for divorce court all over again. Instead, we can use our time as a single person to minister as the Lord directs us, to join group activities to cultivate new friendships, and to work in church ministries to meet people who share our common bond of faith.
God may take longer than we would like to help us meet someone new, because He wants to work out issues in our personality and soul, which need healing first. If God wants us married, He will bring along a new mate in His timing. If we do not meet anyone new, then it is pretty clear that God prefers us to be single at this time.
He does this so we are better able to minister to Him, and to those He has for us to come in contact with, and to be open to the needs in our family, neighborhood, church family, and community. As we focus each moment on walking in God’s will for us, He will prevent rebounding in our life and we will find fulfillment in our relationship with Him.
Prayer:
Father God, sometimes divorce is inevitable, especially in cases of infidelity or if our partner is determined to leave us. Please help us to focus on our relationship with You in our times of grief and solitude. Remind us that watching romantic movies and reading novels will reinforce our feelings of loneliness. Keep us from rebounding or using addictions to fill the void in our life. Joy and contentment in You will ease our feelings of isolation and disappointment.
We want to live, move, and have our being in You, rather than in human companionship. We desire a deeper intimacy with Your Trinity than to ignore You and fill the void in our life with the first person who shows interest in us. The deeper we delve into Your Word, Your people, and Your ministries, the less lonely we will feel and the more Your joy will fill our heart.
Thoughts for the Day:
Listening to Christian worship and hanging out with the Body of Christ, as we focus on God's will for our life, will help to fill our soul with God's peace, joy, and love. We find rest in the shadow of God’s wings, contentment in His will, and He works out His divine nature in our personality as we focus solely on Him. Our soul will fill with a stronger unity with God’s Trinity within us, and we will find more contentment in our union between Him and our spirit than with any person we could ever meet.
