Pleasure in the Midst of Pressure

Our society has a way of describing people by their circumstances and situations. Even people who are closest and dearest to us, in their attempt to help us out of our situation, constantly remind us of our failures and shortcomings. Most times, they end up making things worse for us by putting pressure on us to do things the way it seems best to them and not necessarily the best way for us.
As a matured single lady, you will be confronted with all sorts of suggestions on how to change your status. Offers, both good and bad will come your way; suggestions will come to you from all quarters as to whom you should date, or when you should date. Many women tend to get confused and overwhelmed with these suggestions and offers that they end up making the wrong decisions due to the pressure mounted on them.
Many women have been pressurized into starting relationships that they shouldn’t have started. When you are under pressure to take a decision or start something that you are not mentally ready for, it is better not to start but to seek the face of God.

A General Outlook to Pressure
Pressure can be described as a compelling or constraining influence such as persuasion or negative attitudes on the mind or will.

Pressure is one thing that prevents a lot of women from hearing God in their situations.
At this time in your life and indeed at all times, you have to listen to the voice of God, so that you can be guided into taking the right steps and decisions by the leading of the Holy Spirit and not by the leading of your friends and your own emotions.
A lot of single matured women are under pressure to start a relationship with men that they are not even compatible with.
Delay in finding love can bring pain and suffering but only to the extent that you allow that to get to you.
Of all the pressures to be in a relationship, the greatest pressure is the one that you inflict upon yourself. So, why put yourself through the agony of finding love at all cost?
Why not be patient, believe and trust in the Lord to bring you the right partner at the right time. Delay is not denial. If you are an independent, confident woman, you know that life has meaning even without a man to call your own.
There are various sources of Pressure I’d like to touch on here…
Pressure from friends- Peer pressure is a powerful thing. Friends and everyone else in the world always have a partner for you.
Friends constantly try to fix you up with guys who are suddenly single. Have you noticed that every man who suddenly becomes a widower around you becomes a candidate for you? Neglecting the fact that you may not even be attracted to him and vice versa? Remember that not every open door is of God and “all that glitters is not gold”. Sometimes, the whole world may think that a certain man is the best for you but, as attractive as the man may seem, he may not necessarily be God’s choice for you! You need to hear the voice of God and not the voice of man, as a mistake will be disastrous.
If you say no to these fix-ups, your friends will become even more determined in their attempts to show you the way because of their desire to see you married by all means.
But there are also those friends who want to marry you off quickly because they don’t want you anywhere near their husbands, This is where attractive women suffer the most; they can sometimes be perceived by their married friends as a source of temptation for their husband. For the some married women, any man will do for their single friends, so, beware of ungodly advice and pressure from friends who want you out of the way.

Pressure from the family
Show me a single woman who doesn’t feel pressured from her parents to get married and I’ll show you a single woman who’s an orphan. All over the world, it is natural for parents to want to see their children married and bearing fruit. Where this doesn’t happen when the child is of marriageable age, the tendency is for the parents to start getting worried and put pressure on the woman to marry quickly, this pressure can lead you to make a wrong choice, which can eventually lead to a broken marriage.
Married siblings can be a source of pressure as well…

Societal pressure.
Everywhere you go, the society rubs your single status in your face, but you don’t have to allow that get to you. When you go to a restaurant solo, the waiters look at you like you are some sort of loose woman looking for a night catch.
Some people in the restaurant even stare at you in pity for not having a man beside you.
Worse still are those days that the society has created to commemorate special events that are best celebrated as a married woman or in a family setting. Valentine’s day, Christmas day, Birthdays, New Year’s eve, Mother’s day, etc.
Such days always drive home your single status and if you are not careful, you will feel pressurized into making wrong decisions or accepting illicit dates for the wrong reasons.

Don’t allow the pressure of your age to drive you into a relationship that the Lord has not ordained for you, Some women after the age of 35 and finding themselves still unmarried decide to have children for a married man because they can no longer wait for a man of their own, this is wrong! By doing this, you are not only bringing an inconvenient child into the world, you have also made yourself the vehicle by which another woman’s husband has committed adultery.

Good things come to those who wait! Don’t give into pressure that would push you into making decisions that you would later regret.
The Lord’s timing is perfect and He is never late.
He says Wait, He says Wait!
He makes all things beautiful in His time; He will surely make your life beautiful and grant all your heart desires according to His will in Jesus name, AMEN.