Johannes Jansson/norden.org [CC BY 2.5 dk (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/dk/deed.en)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons
It’s amazing how many relationship books there are in the world.  Books for singles, books for marrieds, books for relating with kids, books for relating at work, ad infinitum.  You would think that with all the books out there already on the subject that there wouldn’t be room for any more.  Surely we have all would have figured this relationship thing out by now, right?  Much to our chagrin, relationships in this life don’t have simple solutions.  The human condition leaves us with a never-ending change of scenarios that always leaves us short on answers, and short on books that we hope hold those answers.

Take books for singles as an example.  There are lots of books out there.  Books on what to look for in a prospective person; books on how to be someone that another person would want to look for.  Books on dating, or courting, (or whatever you want to call it), and how to decide if the other person is a life companion for you through that process.

Now, marrieds have their own problems, but among singlehood there is an undeniable self-doubt that drives a certain load of anxiety about one’s ability to be able to find that other special someone.  How do I get to know them, how do I do things in a morally upstanding way, what if they don’t like me, why hasn’t anyone liked me to that level before?

See? Plenty of room for self-doubt, sleepless nights, and, of course, more books.

Now, relationship books have their place, because they speak common truths in a way that we connect with and find valuable, and there is value in identifying rules of relationships that were previously unknown or subconscious.

The reason for the never-ending stream of books, is because the book that we all want on relationships, the one that would be the categorically have the most value for us, is one that cannot be written.

What we want, and what a part of us is always looking for is the book that tells us our unwritten story.  We want to know how it will all play out ahead of time so we won’t have to face our fears, live through our uncertainties, and avoid unpleasant blunders.  What should we do when faced with important decisions that lack clarity, that have the potential to affect us for the rest of our lives?  We want that book to save us from the unknown and from our own bad decisions.

The search for it will keep writers in business until the close of time, though it can truly never be written.

However, though that book might be out of reach for us, there is something we can discover in life that will guide us through life’s big decisions and relational uncertainties.  There is a God that is personally interested in our lives.  If we search for Him, we will find Him, and He will take great pleasure in guiding us through this tangled web of life.

God’s personal attention frees us from the present reality of uncertainty and worry.  Not that we don’t have to face our situations, because there’s no way around that, but we don’t face them alone.

Proverbs 3:5,6

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart;
and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge him,
and he shall direct thy paths.