All my life I have prayed for my future husband. I pray that he is happy, healthy and growing spiritually. I pray that God will place him in my life at just the right time, and that I will realize he is the one I want to be with. If God is omnipotent, then he must know who I am supposed to spend the rest of my life with. Does this mean I have a “soulmate”?
The concept of soulmates has been around for a very long time. Movies such as “A Walk to Remember” (2002) and “Serendipity” (2001) push the idea of destiny within a love story, which has truly influenced my generation’s view on love. I have never been sure if I believe in soulmates or not, so I decided to find out for myself by asking others and seeing what the Bible could tell me.
I asked three very different individuals if they believe in soulmates. Each person gave me a different response and each answer opened my eyes a little more to how people truly view the concept of destiny and placing their futures in God’s hands.
Freshman Kylie Sides said, “I want to believe in (soulmates). I want to think someone is out there that was made for me. I think there are people you can be happy with, but I think God put a person on earth that will make your life perfect, or as good as it can be.”
Freshman Ian Wright said, “Yes, I believe there is someone for everyone; however, I don’t necessarily believe in the conventional soulmate philosophy.”
Both of these thoughts have crossed my mind before. As much as I would like to deny it, I am a hopeless romantic. I love the idea of someone being made just for me, but something about this philosophy feels empty. There is a void I needed to fill, I was not satisfied yet. Then senior Erin Fletcher came along.
Erin, a well-respected Harding student and one of my dearest friends, explained to me how the Bible teaches that love is a choice, and how she believes God is our soulmate. We were born to follow him, and if we are to be with a significant other in our lifetime, then it is God’s will.
All three students romanticized soulmates, but Erin’s answer stirred something in me. Talking with her about soulmates and the concept of being created for another person gave me an entire new perspective on God’s love for me and how I should love him.
“In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor thing present more things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:37-39, ESV).
Love is a choice, and you can choose to love whomever you want. I still pray for my future husband, but now I know that God’s plan for me is much greater than anything I could ever imagine. Now I know the only thing that could ever fill any part of me that feels empty is God and God alone. We are not made to spend the rest of our lives with one specific person, but to serve one specific being. I don’t believe I have a soulmate to spend the rest of my life with, but I have God to serve for the rest of my life.
Written by Katelyn Allen
