For your Creator will be your husband, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies is His name. He is your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. The God of all the earth.” (Isaiah 54:5)
I’m not sure how my brothers in Christ see that verse, but as a single woman in her late 30’s, I can easily see how God is my husband. God has been the one I go to in many situations for which I would go to my husband if a husband was a part of my story.
In my adult life, I have bought and sold one house and bought a second one. I have made many financial and healthcare related decisions while living with a chronic disease. I have changed jobs and moved three times. I am currently in between jobs and have joked with my friends that I’m a housewife without a husband.
But seeing God as my husband is clearer now than ever as He’s provided a double portion for this season of Sabbath, however long it may last. This verse is even more real to me as I consider that my singleness may not have an expiration date. It may not be just for a season, as I thought while growing up in the church.
In all my youth group days, on campus college ministry days, and in countless women’s Bible studies, I gathered that the dream was to prepare myself to be a Godly wife, get married to a Godly man, raise Godly children and live happily ever after while serving in whatever ministry God placed in our hearts.
Before Christ and such experiences, my dream was to go to college, get a job to support myself and then maybe consider bringing a husband and family into the picture. Perhaps it was due to my being raised by a single mom on a limited income as my parents divorced while I was in elementary school. I’m not saying either dream is wrong. That’s just been my experience.
Fifteen years ago, God convicted me that I had made that dream, common in Christian culture, an idol. I was thinking about, praying for, and waiting for that husband while delaying certain steps in my calling. God clearly spoke through His Spirit that He had to be enough. If that husband and family never happened, would I still choose to trust Him, His plan, His provision, His sovereignty? Be satisfied in God and God alone? When I answered yes, I honestly didn’t think I would still be single today or even imagine that I would be completely satisfied and content as such.
I’ve learned to go to Him in everything. He sometimes leads others in my life to walk me through or lead me to decisions. More often than not, He answers me through His Word, through a devotion, a sermon, song, or just in the quietness of His Spirit as I sit in His presence praying through the situation. When I’m frustrated or upset, I’ve learned that going to Him first is always the wisest choice, instead of texting my friends or going off on the person who hit the nerve in the first place.
SingleRoots aims to encourage us to live intentionally no matter our marital status. That’s true whether we are single for a season or until this mist vanishes. Be encouraged: His Word is Truth. He will provide. He will lead as you choose to abide in Him and walk by faith the steps He’s ordered for you. He will give you abundant life. He will do immeasurably more than all you ask or imagine with or without a spouse by your side.
If our singleness is not just for a season, Christ is still enough. When did the cross become only the beginning of what we expect as followers of Christ? Paul speaks of singleness as a gift but never mentions an expiration date on such. When we delight ourselves in the Lord, His desires become our desires. His heart becomes our heart.
One of His desires for me is singleness right now, and I don’t desire otherwise. If His desire in that area of my life ever changes, He will change my heart accordingly. He promises to give us the desires of our hearts as we delight in Him and there is no expiration date on that.
If you know someone who is struggling with their singleness, would you email them this post to encourage them?
