Are you spiritually prepared for a relationship? If so, then you know that one of the first steps in moving towards a Godly relationship is to evaluate yourself according to God’s Word. 2Corinthians 13:5(NLT) tells us, “Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves.” Marriage is going to take us down to the wire of what we really believe, and our faith can’t be based on assumptions or what someone else thinks is true. Our faith must be based on what we know is true from God’s Word. We must be confident that Christ is in us. When this is our confidence, emulating Jesus Christ will be as organic to us as breathing. So, there has to be some serious thinking, studying, and questioning going on during our time of being single. Heavenly Father is going to move according to our faith, and if we’re not spiritually prepared to marry, we’re going to miss what He’s doing.
Our faith in God demands that we understand He has not left the area of our marriages to chance. We really have to let this one sink in our minds and hearts. So many single people have grossly underestimated how much God desires to lead, guide, and direct us in this area, and we have also underestimated how desperately we need Him to do so. Proverbs 3:5 tells us to trust in the Lord with all our hearts and don’t lean on our own understanding. You and I can’t see the whole picture. We don’t know the future, we don’t fully know ourselves, and we won’t fully know our spouses, but God knows all. We must lean on our faith in Him instead of leaning on what we think we understand about the situations we may face.
Proverbs 3:6 instructs us to seek God in ALL that we do, and this certainly includes our decisions about the best partner for our lives. Just because a man has all the attributes of a good fit, it doesn’t necessarily mean that he is. Sometimes we have so much fear in our hearts about being lonely that we feel we need to sink our anchor in Mr. Might Be Right, so he won’t get away. We jump in prematurely without allowing God to lead us. Heavenly Father tells us in Proverbs 3:6 that He’s the One who directs our paths. So, another question we need to answer is whether we are willing to allow Him to do it.
Spiritual maturity and preparation demand that we recognize the order God has established. He leads, we follow. That’s the order! Said another way, God initiates, we respond. We respond to what He does, and we don’t make a move without Him telling us to. Fear and doubt will cause us to be impetuous and do things because we’re afraid that we’ll lose out if we don’t. That’s not faith, and it’s a pattern that shows we’re not quite ready.
Lamentations 3:25-26(NLT) says, “25 The LORD is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him. 26 So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the LORD.” God is in charge of elevation and promotion. He’s the One who takes us from blessing to blessing, and it is good to wait on the deliverance and victory He will give us because we can have every confidence that when He does things, they are done in the very best way possible. We must learn to wait on God when it comes to meeting and marrying the person He’s ordained for our lives.
Heavenly Father is a God of order. Once He sets a precedent or pattern, we can follow it continually and it will not fail. 1Corinthians 11:7-9(NLT) tells us, “7 A man should not wear anything on his head when worshiping, for man is made in God’s image and reflects God’s glory. And woman reflects man’s glory.8 For the first man didn’t come from woman, but the first woman came from man. 9 And man was not made for woman, but woman was made for man” God doesn’t make mistakes and everything He does is brilliantly magnificent and perfect. Men and women have different roles, and one of the man’s roles is to find the treasure that will be his wife. Our great privilege as God’s daughters is to demonstrate to Him that we are spiritually mature enough to be submitted to the man that He desires us to walk with through life.
As wives, we must submit to our husbands and them to us. As single women that are spiritually prepared to partner in marriage, we understand that order is the foundation of submission. God has given the man the responsibility to initiate, and then we have the distinct privilege to respond. We should be patient, watchful, and prayerful as we allow the man to demonstrate that he understands he is indeed pursuing one of God’s daughters. As we are committed to wait on God in this process, our responses will be appropriate, and Heavenly Father will confirm they have been made to the man that is right for us. ♦
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“God Initiates and You Respond”, written by Kim Times, edited by Reverend Fran Mack, for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2021. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.