In the last half century, the rate of technological
advances has skyrocketed. As a child, I listened to 78 rpm records. In my teenage years, we had 33 rpm albums and
45 rpm singles. (I still have a bunch of
Beatles 45s and many vinyl albums including the most popular from my college
years, Carol King’s Tapestry.) Then
we had 8-track tapes and cassettes and CDs.
As we get older, it is easy to get nostalgic about old technologies, and
refuse to adopt to the times. But I must
say, I love the world of streaming music and I especially enjoy podcasts.
I discovered podcasts a few years ago when the local
radio station moved the program I liked to listen to on my way to work. I found I could listen to podcasts of this program
on my iPhone. Now I am a podcast fanatic. My favorite is Pastor Rick’s Daily Hope which
I listen to everyday on my way to work. A
couple of years ago, the Daily Hope had a wonderful series entitled 40
Days of Prayer. The final message in
the series was When God Says “No”:
There are times when God says no and it’s just
unexplainable. And there are times when you ask a legitimate request you don’t
see anything wrong with it and it doesn’t happen. It makes no sense. That’s when it is
unbearable. That’s when it’s heartbreaking. That’s when you go, “I don’t get it.” And when that happens—God says no—that is the
greatest test of faith in your life. Prayers
that are not answered the way you want will absolutely be the single greatest
test in your life. God says: So are you
going to trust Me or not?[1]
I have found my No to be my greatest test of
faith. Being single impacts my life
every day. Even though God’s No
to me was made clear on that plane ride, living in the No has not always
been easy. But I have found great
comfort in the metaphor of God as a spouse: “For your Maker is your husband —
the Lord Almighty is His name— the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; He is
called the God of all the earth.” (Isaiah 54:5, NIV). This metaphor is found throughout the Bible,
culminating in the book of Revelation with the wedding supper of the Lamb. All believers, male, female, young, old,
married or single are a part of the bride of Christ. Whoever you are, Christ fulfills the
responsibilities of a spouse in your life.
In the 1980’s, Christian singer/songwriter, Nancy Honeytree released a
wonderful album called Single Heart. I listened to it so often I
practically memorized the whole thing. I
favorite lines were the chorus to Still Single:
He is my husband. I am His bride
I am complete. He stands by my side.
He made my heart so He understands.
He includes meeting my needs in His plans.
“He includes meeting my needs in His plans!” What a
wonderful promise. God is enough! As a young girl my favorite stories were
fairy tales. They always ended with the heroine and prince charming riding off
into the sunset to live happily ever after.
I always thought I needed a prince to meet my needs. These fantasies die hard and still come up to
haunt me. Whenever I watch one of my
all-time favorite movies, You've Got Mail, I can get depressed because I
wanted someone in my life like Tom Hanks’ character. Our media saturated world
gives us a distorted view of what we really need in life. It tells us we need a
person or persons or even things that will fill up the hole that we have in our
hearts. But God's word gives a whole different view: “His divine power has
given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him
who called us by His own glory and goodness.” (2 Peter 1 :3, NIV)
How much of what we need has God given us? Everything. What doesn't that include? Nothing.
How do we receive what we need? Through knowing God. God gives me Himself and
He is much more than enough. I can think of four ways in which God has met my
needs as a single person. These needs stand out to me because, in my romantic
fantasies, I mistakenly thought my Prince Charming would meet these needs.
Provision
My favorite Old Testament name for God is Jehovah
Jireh, which means the LORD will provide. (In fact, I got a necklace engraved
with Jehovah Jireh on it when I was in Israel to remind me of God's faithful
provision.) I grew up in a family where
my Mom never had to work outside the home after she had children. My Dad always
provided for her and us. My parents had no money worries (at least none that
they told me about). I figured that I would just get married and let my husband
support me in a manner to which I grow accustomed. But things didn't work out
that way. I have never been without food or clothes or shelter. Yet I still manage to worry if there will be
more month left at the end of my money. For almost everyone, not just single
women whose income is their sole support, finances are a constant concern.
Jesus speaks to our anxieties in His Sermon on the Mount:
I tell you, don't worry about everyday life-whether
you have enough food, drink, and clothes. Doesn't life consist of more than
food and clothing? Look at the birds. They don't need to plant or harvest or
put food in barns because your heavenly Father feeds them. And you are far more
valuable to Him than they are. Can all your worries add a single moment to your
life? Of course not. And why worry about your clothes. Look at the lilies and how they grow. They
don 't work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not
dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers
that are here today and gone tomorrow, won’t He more surely care for you? You have
so little faith! So don’t worry about having enough food or drink or
clothing. Why be like the pagans who are
so deeply concerned about these things? Your heavenly Father already knows all
your needs and He will give you all you need from day to day, if you live for Him
and make the kingdom of God your primary concern. (Matthew 6: 25-33, NLT-1996)
God has abundantly provided for me over
the years. After I had been working in
libraries for a few years, I thought it would be wise to get my master's degree
in library science but I hesitated because I did not want to have to pay back student
loans on a librarian’s salary. But when
I finally decided to step out in faith and apply for library school, I found
the local library consortium was offering a scholarship for those who wanted to
serve in a multicultural setting. Lynn University, where I work, has been
recognized multiple times as having one of the highest percentages of
international students. I applied for
the scholarship, was accepted and my total tuition was covered. This was the only time in the 30 plus years
of the consortium that scholarships were offered. Some
might say this was a coincidence. But I see it as evidence of God’s supernatural supply.
For those non-librarians, you may not realize the difference having a Master’s
in Library Science degree makes in the Library world. After I graduated, I became a professional
librarian. Besides gaining respect in
the academic community, my salary increased by 33% the year after I got my degree. The blessing of the scholarship was a long
term means of meeting my needs.
Learning the Lesson:
We
will come back to the other ways God has included “meeting
my needs in His plans” tomorrow. But for
now, please take some time to think about the many ways God has met your basic
physical needs.
Yet true
godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. After all, we brought
nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us
when we leave it. So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content. (I
Timothy 6:6-8, NTL)
Contentment is
really a matter of perspective. Most
Americans are rich---we just don’t know it. “According to the Global Rich List,
a $32,400 annual income will easily place American school teachers, registered
nurses, and other modestly-salaried individuals, among the global 1% of
earners.”[2] In his book, How to be Rich, Pastor
Andy Stanley says, “our culture [gives us] incessant messages about how to be
rich when, in fact, most of us are got rich a long time ago and nobody told
us.”[3] The problem for so many of us in the West, is
not that we don’t have enough, it is that we are not content with what we
have. Take a few minutes to think about:
Meals I have
eaten this week:
Clothes I have
worn this week:
Thank God for all
that He has provided for you this week.
[1] Warren, R. (n.d.). When God says “no”, part 1.
[Podcast]. Retrieved from https://pastorrick.com/listen-online/when-god-says-no-part-1-2/#
[2] Kurt, D. (2019, September 25). Are you in the world's
top 1 percent? Retrieved from https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/050615/are-you-top-one-percent-world.asp
[3] Stanley, A.
(2013). How to be rich: It's not what you have. It's what you do with
what you have. Zondervan. [Kindle edition]. Introduction.
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