Chances are, even if you’re married, you’re still searching for “the one”. Maybe you’re looking for that one job where you can make a living and make a difference. Or maybe you’re looking for the one church where you can finally experience true community. Ever wonder why?
You were created to crave oneness. Not just oneness with other people as we typically understand it, but also oneness within yourself. This trait is also called congruence, and it’s a crucial aspect of integrity.
It’s so central to God’s character that the only word used to describe Him in the foundational prayer of our faith is “One”. The Hebrew word isאחד (echad). It describes the number 1, and also carries the idea of singleness, uniqueness, and unity.
This “one” word has the power to save your sanity and transform your life. The same single-mindedness, integrity, and unity of purpose embodied by God is available to us. Jesus asked the Father to make us one as they are one. Yet for most of us, double-mindedness is a way of life. Here’s the song that first got me thinking about this aspect of oneness:
So why don’t we experience congruence?
We aren’t experiencing the glory of God. Jesus said he gave us an experience of God’s glory so that we would be one. He put it like this: ” I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one.”
Did you catch that? The whole point is oneness! His goal is for us to be one as individuals, one with Him, and one with each other.
What you want is not to find “the one”, but to become “one”. So when you find yourself longing for that one soul-mate, job, church, etc, you’re longing for freedom from distraction. You’re craving an experience so captivating that you can’t be distracted.
Fragmented attention and the quest for “the one” are two sides of the same coin. And they’re both symptoms that our brains are starved for God’s glory. We can’t manufacture glory, but we can make space for it in our fragmented lives.
Over the next few weeks, I’ll suggest ways to do that. As a mom of five with endless demands on my time, I’m not interested in anything that isn’t meaningful and intensely practical. Many of these suggestions are best lived out in family, because that’s one of the most important places we experience God’s glory (and oneness) on Earth.
What are your biggest distractions? What situations leave you feeling torn or indecisive? Write your answers (and read mine) in the comment section below.