“But they that wait upon
the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles;
they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” Isaiah
40:31 (KJV)
As the Lord blessed me to
celebrate my recent birthday, I began to ask myself some thought-provoking
questions. You see, I have taken the past several weeks, if not months, to
evaluate myself in light of Scriptures, to reflect on the goodness of God, to
meditate on His precepts, and also to ponder. Over the past several years, I
have seen single women make some poor choices in choosing a mate all because
they did not wait on the Lord to give them His best in a mate. And of course by
the time a woman reaches a certain age, there are undoubtedly many questions as
to why marriage hasn’t come yet. It almost reminds me of that old saying: Are
we there yet? Well…not yet my friends. But this is not a lesson on cultural
society’s expectations for marriage. This perhaps may be a lesson on the
sovereignty of our faithful Lord. So if you are single, as I am, you may be
tempted to ask some similar questions as to why you remain single. To be
honest, I stopped asking that question years ago. Why? Because God has shown me
through His Word the importance of waiting on Him. Besides in this life we will
have to wait, whether we like it or not. So why not wait on God’s choice for a mate?
To be honest, part of my desire to wait has been based on seeing so many
people, even those whom I dearly love, make choices based on their emotions
rather than choosing a spouse based on God’s Word.
Psalm 27:14 – “Wait on the
Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on
the Lord.” (KJV)
Psalm 84:11 – “For the
Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing
does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.” (ESV)
No good thing:
Marriage is a beautiful blessing from the Lord: a God-given covenant
between a man to a woman only; meant to last until death separates. This
explains why no one should enter into a marriage lightly. If you believe like I
do, then you believe that God will not withhold any good thing from those who
walk uprightly. We are His children. We seek to please Him in every way. Even
when we sin and fall short of the glory of God, we repent and continue to
follow Christ on this journey. We do not short-change God in anything,
including our singleness.
Here is the Simple Truth:
Sometimes we as single women can tend to focus too much on why we are not
married. When we should ask ourselves, what can we do to prepare for marriage,
if marriage is the Lord’s will for us? How can we as single women best serve
the Lord during this time of singleness? Should the Lord tarry, here are some
things we as single women need to remember:
1.
It is God’s will to give to those a husband as He
desires. Genesis 2:18 states “And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be
alone; I will make him an help meet for him.” (KJV). God is holy and He is sovereign. Job 42:2 states “I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours
can be thwarted.” (ESV). Our Heavenly
Father knows when the time is right to introduce you to your future mate. So
let us be still. You never know who you may meet while in the frozen foods
section of Wal-Mart. God is the BEST Matchmaker. EVER!!!
2.
Be NOT idle! Do not waste this time wishing you were
married. Spend this time doing the
Lord’s work wherever you find your hands to do. 1 Corinthians 10:31 states “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the
glory of God.” (ESV).
3.
Do not despise your married friends. It only lends to covetousness of which the Lord has already
given us His Word on that subject. (Reference Exodus 20:17).
4.
Prepare yourself.
Now I’m sure you all have heard this one before. Read the Bible. If you desire
marriage, pull out those Scriptures that pertain to the role of a wife towards
her husband. This is even beneficial for those single ladies who do not have
the desire for marriage. Also find a good Biblically based book on the subject
of preparation for marriage. This will come in handy as you prepare. Seek the
advice of other Godly women who are married. Ask them some questions as to how
their spouses went through the courtship process with them. Gather as much
information as possible.
5.
Seek out accountability beforehand. I am aware that there are some Christians who are with the
mindset that accountability is not biblical or that perhaps they do not want
others in their business. Well…that’s not my view. I invite certain Godly
people into my business. Why? Because of the issue of sexual purity, and my
desire to maintain my sexual purity when I am in this courtship process. I need
accountability and you do to. We do not need to think of ourselves so highly
and super-spiritually minded as to think that we are not prone to sexual
immorality. If this wasn’t so, then the Apostle Paul would not have written 1
Corinthians chapter 7 to address such issues. (Reference 1 Corinthians 7).
Proverbs 27:17 – “Iron sharpens
iron, and one man sharpens another.”
(ESV).
6.
Pray for your future husband. This one requires no further explanation. The following website
is from Revive Our Hearts Ministry of Nancy Leigh DeMoss which includes 31
prayers wives can pray for their husbands. I am convinced that as single women,
we can at least pull a couple of these prayers to pray over our future
husbands.
7.
Rest in His hope.
We do not know everything. We have not all the answers. But one thing I can say
with surety is that our God is faithful. He hears our prayers and His timing is
certainly perfect. Let us rest in the hope that our faithful Father in Heaven
will perform His will in our lives, whether that is to remain single or whether
that is to marry one of His children. Psalm 138:8 – “The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O
Lord, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.” (KJV).
Our Lord, our Savior:
Dear Heavenly Father, I pray for those reading this blog that You will
fill them to overflowing with Your Word in their lives. May they be able to
understand what is the hope of Your calling, what Your will is for them in
every situation, struggle, and trial. May we not grow weary in well doing for
in due season, Your Word states that we will reap, if we do not faint. We pray
now that You will make us into excellent women and wives for Your glory alone,
in Jesus Almighty Name. Amen.
Books I recommend:
The Bible (English
Standard Version or King James Version or both) SMILE!
Choosing God’s Best:
Wisdom for lifelong romance by Dr. Don Raunikar
The Excellent Wife by
Martha Peace
Becoming the Titus 2 Woman
by Martha Peace
Feminine Appeal: Seven
virtues of a godly wife and mother by Carolyn Mahaney
Videos I highly recommend watching:
Biblical Manhood by Dr.
Voddie Baucham (Full sermon link listed below and available on youtube)
Biblical Womanhood by Dr.
Voddie Baucham (Full sermon link listed below and available on youtube)
Nice blog :)
ReplyDeleteThank you brother Coby. Glad you stopped by.
Delete