La Esperanza Verdadera en la Soltería

For the first 30 years of my life I was single. I didn't have my first boyfriend (who is now my husband) until he was almost 31 years old. Although I wanted to get married, I can look back on those years and say that I learned to be satisfied during that season. I learned how to be deeply rooted in God and find everything I needed in Him, by His amazing grace. 

I'm not saying everything was perfect, I had my moments of weakness, where I struggled with dissatisfaction. It wasn't that I suddenly stopped wanting marriage. The only reason I can say I was satisfied that season was because my hope wasn't on getting married one day. Wanting something to happen and then wishing for it to happen is not hope. 

We've been talking about hope on the blog this month, and I remind you that hope is "looking forward with confident expectation." I didn't expect to get married, because I had no reason to expect God to give me that gift. He does not promise us marriage, but he does promise us eternal life when we believe in his Son (John 3:16). Eternal blessings such as the forgiveness of our sins, our redemption through His blood, and being blameless before Him because of the work of His Son (Ephesians 1:3-10) are other things He promises to His children. of the. And in what he has promised me thanks to Christ, I can look forward with sure expectation.

During my single years, I found satisfaction in Christ because I knew what was ahead of me. No matter what my marital status was here on earth, I could with great confidence know that one day I would experience the incredible privilege of being in the presence of God in heaven. That I would have eternal life with Him because He died on the cross for me. 

1 Peter 1:3 says that “he has given us birth again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” Our hope is alive because it rests in Christ who conquered death. And one day we will be in his presence and we will have no more pain, sorrow or trials. That's something you and I can trust 100%. 

Singleness isn't just something to endure until we meet Jesus face to face one day. Because we could easily say, “Well, okay, my hope is in Christ, so I have eternal life to look forward to. So I guess I'll endure my life here on earth until that time comes. To that I say: “No sister! "That's not what life here on earth is supposed to be like."

He has given you eternal life, so we have nothing to despair about while we are here on earth because our future is secure. Having this hope alive in Christ radically transformed how I perceived my singleness. It allowed me to experience the freedom of my all in Him. If He loved me and died for me on the cross, he conquered death in his resurrection, then I had nothing to fear. What incredible freedom there is in that! God is good!

And God is good to you by giving you singleness, because it is a good thing for you. After all, He says that He withholds nothing good from those who seek Him (Psalm 84:11). So if you are reading this today as a single woman, God has given you singleness today because it is good for you! As Paul reminds us, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

In that, you can also hope and trust God that He is using singleness for your good and for His purposes in your life. So I urge you, single sister, to rejoice in that today. Our God is good and he is good to you in your singleness. And He is kind to give us the living hope we have in Christ.

To help you walk in this, here are some practical ideas on how to live with living hope in God and rejoice in singleness today:

1. Take some time to thank God for being single. It is a gift that he has given you, and his will for you today is that you have a heart of gratitude (1 Thessalonians 5:18). This is especially important when you are feeling discontented in this season of life. Fight discontent with gratitude. 
2. Pray and seek the Lord so that you will be wise with your time as a single person. It is a time when you can serve God with your full attention (1 Corinthians 7:34). Some ideas could be: serving more in your local church, investing time in serving your family, listening to more sermons, reading Christian books that will help you learn more about God, seeking out younger girls you can disciple, etc.
3. Invest in your relationship with God. Be more intentional about being in His Word and spending time with God in prayer (Matthew 22:37). 
4. Seek to grow in spiritual maturity and discipline. Seek an older godly mentor who can help you in your walk with Christ (Titus 2:3-5).
5. Run to Jesus when you feel sad or overwhelmed by the desire to get married. It is not a bad desire, but analyze and seek God so that He can reveal to you if you desire the idea of ​​marriage more than you desire God. If that is the case, then he has become an idol in your life and you should repent of it. Your greatest desire should be Jesus. He is everything you need and more. Then seek Him with all your strength because He is worthy.
6. You can visit my website and download a devotional that will guide you with ideas on how to use your singleness to glorify God.

Sisters, I encourage you to flee to Jesus to be your everything and to rejoice in the eternal and living hope you have in Him! He is good and does not withhold anything good from you!

¹   Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of biblical languages ​​with semantic domains: Greek (New Testament) (electronic edition). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.