Years ago, as I was just beginning to learn the principles of faith from God’s Word, I was struck by the number of sisters in Christ that I knew who were complaining about being single. They wanted to be married and felt they had been single long enough. They were told they didn’t have enough faith, and that this was the reason they weren’t moving closer to the blessing they all wanted. Hebrews 11:1(NLT) says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Faith is the spiritual title deed to something we’re praying to receive. It’s our assurance that we have it even though the blessing hasn’t yet materialized in our lives. Over the years, I’ve had countless conversations about having faith in receiving the blessing of marriage. We all talk about the subject a great deal, and we have received a bunch of teaching on being single, saved, and secure; but the reality is that many single believers still find it very challenging to steady their faith in this area.
Jesus Christ said in Mark 11:24(NLT), “I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours.” God instructs us to pray with the expectation of receiving from Him. It is God’s Word that brings promises to pass. He has magnified His Word above His name, and He blesses His Word. We must believe that Heavenly Father is a God who is faithful and always honors His Word. This belief is the faith that brings blessings into fruition.
Faith is the right way of believing. And the right way of believing requires that our thoughts, confessions, feelings, and actions all line up with what God says about a subject. Say for instance, one of your greatest desires is to meet a man that will be loyal and committed to you, that will love you as much as you will love him, and this man will appreciate and honor the union of marriage. You might even have a visual of him in your mind, but although you can see him in your mind’s eye, you are also complaining that there are no good men out there. You are praying to come across the path of a good man, but you are confessing that no good men can be found. When we pray one thing but say another, we are working against our believing, and not with it.
God is watching what you do, think, feel, and say. When we believe in something, our actions, thoughts, feelings, and words must all travel in the same direction. If this isn’t the case, it means that you are not fully persuaded in what you say you believe. In simple terms, if you feel happy about getting an ice cream cone and you think about how good it tastes, your feelings and your thoughts are on board with the delight of eating an ice cream cone. So, now you, and you alone, have to decide whether or not to take the delight or blessing of eating a delicious ice cream cone to the next level. You must mobilize your feelings and thoughts to the point of engaging the process of manifesting your desires. This means that you must believe without hesitation that it is available for you to take ownership of an ice cream cone.
If you truly believe that it is available for you to have an ice cream cone, you will behave, think, feel, and speak differently than if you didn’t believe it. If you believe that you can have an ice cream cone, you might do things like begin to deny yourself other desserts in an effort to prepare for the yumminess and extra calories of the dessert that you really, really want. You would probably only talk about the goodness of what you’ll be getting instead of bad-mouthing ice cream all the time or speaking negatively about your ability to claim such a treat for yourself. And the one thing you certainly would never, ever do is question the ability and intention of the creator of ice cream. In fact, you probably would sing their praises all day long for blessing everyone with such a wonderful treat.
This is a very simple analogy, but I’m sure you get the point. No matter the blessing, faith is required to receive it. The things that you do to line up with your faith in God are important. They matter. You have to ask yourself if you are singing praises to God all day long for being so faithful to His Word. Are you praising Him for creating men as masterfully as He did? Are You praising Him for saving you and for giving you a mind and heart to express His love to others? We must humble ourselves and realize that faith is more than a lifestyle, it is the way we express our praise and thanks to God. It’s not a temporary fix. It’s an eternal commitment. Understand that if you keep ice cream in the freezer, it will last! Then you can have a cone any time you’d like. Ask God to help your unbelief so that your faith pleases Him! Then, when it comes to crossing paths with your future spouse, you’ll know how to keep the blessing of marriage, and you’ll honor God with it. ■
“Keep Ice Cream in the Freezer” written by Kim Times, edited by Reverend Fran Mack for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2020. 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.