What If Your Promise Is Taking Forever?
Photo by Ibrahim Fareed
The way God makes decisions is a mystery—why He does one thing and not another, why He waits sometimes and doesn’t wait other times.
We see this divine mystery often in relationships. It’s like the Lord comes along and asks certain people to wait, sometimes for years, before they see the fulfillment of His promise to them. But other people see the fulfillment right away. They hardly wait at all.
From the outside looking in, this “imbalance” can feel pretty confusing. It tugs on our insecurities, and we wonder what’s going on.
“But, God—I’ve been waiting for this for a long, long time. Now my friend is getting married, and I’m still single.”
“Please don’t ask me to be one of those people who’s still single at 40.”
“God, it isn’t fair.”
Have you had any of those thoughts? How did you respond when those thoughts came?
His Timing for You Is GOOD
One thing I love praying for is hope. I have seen the outcome of hoping in the Lord, and I am delighted whenever I can pray for someone who’s been single for a long time and is starting to feel like marriage is never going to happen for them.
If you’re in that category, don’t let go of your hope. I know couples who met later in life, and that meeting was such a joy for them—there was so much joy, and delight overflowed.
The timing is God’s timing. So don’t give up.
God Deals in Goodness
Leon dated a couple of people before he met me, and he experienced heartache each time he realized they weren’t the person God had for him. He went through a period of singleness that lasted for years.
But when he met me and discovered God’s plan for us, he saw face to face that God could choose for him better than he could choose for himself.
That is always how it works with God. He deals in goodness. If He shows you, “This is not the person I have for you,” you can be confident that it’s because He has a better match for you waiting in the wings.
“Always ask God about what He’s doing and what He wants to do in your life,” Leon says. “It’s always worth the wait. To wait for the person God wants for you. It can seem like forever sometimes—but it will definitely be worth it.”
Your Time Is Coming
For still the vision awaits its appointed time;
it hastens to the end—it will not lie.
If it seems slow, wait for it;
it will surely come; it will not delay. (Hab. 2:3 ESV)
What vision has God given you?
Don’t give in to despair, and don’t turn away in doubt. The Lord loves you more than you know, and He knows what He’s doing. You can trust Him with everything you have and everything you want—including your future marriage.
As a prophetic act, make a note of this day in your journal. Do something to set it apart in a way that allows you to recall it later—because one day, the promise of God will come to pass for you. On that day, you’ll see with your own eyes that your heavenly Father can be trusted.
Your heavenly Father loves you more than you realize! Here are a few articles on related topics:
For more information on sex, marriage, and finding the person who is right for you, get a copy of Becoming the One by Salomé Roat. Click here to learn more. The book is also available in Spanish.