Single and Shining!

One would think that being a 40 something single woman in the year 2016, would not be such a big deal, but this appears not to be so. I hate that the opening line of so many conversations I have these days is, “Hey Shelly, soooo, when are you getting married?” Before you even have a chance to answer that question is usually followed up by, “You know you’re not getting any younger right?”

It seems as if these are the only questions my family, friends and even people who are only vaguely acquainted with me have on their lips when they see me. As I said, I am not a ‘young biddy’ nor am I an ‘old hen’, but I have come to a point in my life where I will be like Paul when he says, I will be content in whatever state I find myself in. For me, this includes my singleness.

I am not ashamed to say that I am single and waiting on God to send me my husband. Think about, it if I could have chosen for myself wouldn’t I have already found ‘the one’ from the get go? In waiting this is where I got to know myself, inside and out. People talk about Esther and how she was chosen to marry a king, but they skip over the fact that she was set aside for a year before marrying. Also, it took quite a few years before she was even presented to the king. In the first chapter of Esther it was in the king’s third year of reigning, but she wasn’t presented to him until the seventh year of him being king.

As a single woman I choose to be as Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 7:32-35 to “care for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord”. Find yourself in God’s house working for him and doing what pleases Him and watch God move.

In those moments that you are not working in God’s house, or on the job, find time to enjoy this life God has given you. There is no reason to be sitting home. Go to the movies, go to the beach, go to dinner, treat yourself like the queen that you are! How would you know what you like or don’t like if you don’t have a reference point? When God does send your king and he asks you, “What do you like to do?” You can actually have answers, instead of saying, “Nothing much really.”

So, what do I mean when I say shining and single? It is this: in your singleness don’t be desolate and depressed, serve in God’s house, go out and have fun, LIVE LIFE! I have found that I would rather wait long than marry wrong. In God’s Kairos timing, the one He has set aside for you will find you, and when he does you will not just have a wedding, but a God ordained, loving and committed relationship that will withstand the tests of time.

Be encouraged my sisters God has not forgotten.