I don't understand why this keeps happening to me.
I meet nice guys at church and by all standards we're compatible. We become friends first and talk about the possibility of more. Then out of the blue weeks or months down the road he just tells me that he doesn't want to be more than my friend and I see him enter a relationship with someone else soon after. Or he says he's not ready to settle down with the prospect of marriage yet, and then once again they end up with another girl.
I use online dating sites to find compatible matches. I meet many with the same values and beliefs and only a few reply to my messages. I build up nice conversation with them and they act interested in me and one of two things happen. They either once again say they only see me as a friend or they sever the communications by blocking me or not replying to me, and then today. I had been talking to this really amazing guy for about a month and we really clicked and he always said he believed God brought us together and how well we clicked and this past week he had been ignoring my messages only replying with one or two words and claimed it was because he wasn't well and a few days after I had given him space he said he was better but was still not his previous talkative self and today as I was going to give him a good morning message, it came up and said his profile no longer existed. Just like that, no warning no reason why.
I don't understand why this keeps happening to me. It's not like I'm looking for a guy to complete me. I don't have pretty fantasies about how wonderful marriage is 100% of the time. I know every couple has things they have to work through and arguments and struggles. I know this well because of my sister's own 11 year marriage that has had it's many ups and downs and led to many counseling sessions to strengthen their marriage. I know marriage doesn't magically solve all of life's problems. I do believe however it would be more enjoyable with a partner. When I say I use online dating sites I'm not talking every day or even every week usage. I joined one site over two years ago and at first I used it about twice a week and after not much luck I never checked it unless it said someone messaged me to my email. A month ago was the first time I had used it in such a long time and it was then that I noticed this guy had a lot in common and seemed genuine so I initiated conversation and now look where it got me. I am content in my life, but I do have the desire for marriage and a trusted source has repeatedly said that God doesn't just make someone appear in your life ready for you to be in relationship with, He gives you situations and opportunities to mingle and socialize and avenues such as the internet to help. Of course we should seek God first in everything we do and my relationship with Him is very strong and I would never put a man above God I just want to find someone who wants to seek after Him by my side. I'm tired of hearing I'm too young to worry about any of this and that I should live my life and enjoy all my freedom while I can but if you enter a Christ-centered relationship there should be no freedom lost it's not jail. You now have someone to go on adventures with whether they be big or small ones. There is nothing I want to do in my life that cannot be done with a partner. I'm young but I know I wasn't created for single hood.
It's really sad that at the age of 19 I became one of very few single girls in my wide range of friends and my family and since then as my range broadened I still remained the odd one out even among those younger than me and I just don't get it. I'm starting to wonder if it's my personality, and probably my appearance which shouldn't matter to a Christ follower. I never feel as if I come on too strong or try to talk about marriage and all that too soon with guys I try to keep it simple and just get to know them. No one understands why this hurts me they think I'm over-dramatic or that it's stupid to be upset about this stuff and I'm just not trusting God enough or my faith isn't enough and if I did this or that I'd have someone by now or that my standards are too high.
First off, you are 23 and as has been pointed out by others; there are very few 23 year old guys who want to take on the responsibilities of a wife and marriage. While I disagree with the prevailing attitude, there is definitely the attitude among young people that they can be in relationships for fun and enjoy the fun of a relationship without the permanent commitment of marriage. That means there are a lot of people who's goal is dating, not marriage. It also doesn't help that the lines between friendship and dating are quite blurred in a lot of circles.
Oftentimes online profiles are not true to life. One of the challenges of getting to know someone online is usually you are removed from their social group, you don't see them interacting with the other people they know so you don't know how their interactions with you compare to their normal. This makes it really easy to lie or put up a false front online. When someone creates an entire fictitious personality for the purpose of starting a "fantasy" relationship with someone else, that's called cat fishing and it happens on Christian sites as well (after all Christians can be very trusting and gullible). All that to say that maybe all these great guys with similar beliefs etc that you're finding online don't really exist.
Personal to you though: exactly how aggressive are you in pursuing the conversation with these guys? I know for me that if I wanted some space a day or two wouldn't even begin to feel like I was being given space. I also know that I'm usually polite enough to respond to someone who initiates contact with me even if I have no interest in them. So I think it is quite possible that you are interpreting a couple casual conversations as interested in pursuing you, when the guy has just been collecting information and has collected enough to decide that it's not going to work out and he's not going to pursue you. Also possible that some of the guys you are talking to want a rebellious church girl who wants to push the limits of sin rather than a truly godly woman. God's protecting you in that case, but it still hurts to be rejected.
The other thing I would encourage you to do is spend some serious, honest time with God asking him to show you exactly how much value you are placing on a man's interest and whether it is becoming an idol to you or not. It's easy to say God's #1 especially when there's no other guy in your life, but it's hard even for the best of us to have a guy in our lives who is paying attention and actively caring and saying all the things we want to hear, and not feel like God has some competition. It's possible you were just having a bad day when you posted, but if this is a constant feeling with you, I would be double checking whether I was really willing to be obedient if God asked me to remain single for a while or if I was ready to compromise my faith or standards to have a relationship. Which leads me to a final point: regardless of what you were "created for" (and I'm starting to see that phrase as code for God somehow owes me because he made me and I want it this way) you are single today and your challenge is to live your life as a holy, godly single woman today.
Oh and welcome to CC. Hope you stick around and get to know some of the awesome people around here. It's a great place to make friends and get support for the challenges of being a single Christian adult.