Genesis 1: 31; Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good!
Just as a kitchen is the heart of a home, marriage is at the heart of God’s plan for unity and eternity. Marriage is God’s institution. He established the truth that when you have a strong and healthy marital union, it will foster a strong and healthy family unit, where children and others are nurtured in God’s Word. Heavenly Father’s intention and plan is good and perfect. He doesn’t make mistakes, and He doesn’t do anything just for the sake of doing it. He plans and He perfects, and marriage is one of the wonderful tools that He has given us to achieve His purpose for our lives.
If your desire is to tell the right man, “I take you to be my husband…”, then now is the time to make sure you’re prepared spiritually, mentally and emotionally, to take on someone else’s heart and steward the responsibility of a marital union. The right knowledge is power! We sometimes forget that faith is a process, and it requires that the truth is heard, digested, and applied. We need to go into marriage prepared with God’s wisdom already in our arsenals.
Because we want to be happy and involved in a mutually fulfilling relationship, we want things to happen on the double. When things don’t happen that way, many of us become disillusioned. We may even resort to taking matters into our own hands. It’s a mistake to do this. We must realize that as we wait, He is preparing us so that we are spiritually ready to partner with one of His treasures.
We think we know when we have a fully persuaded faith. God wants us to know that His knowledge about the faith in our hearts is what counts. He knows when we are trusting Him as we should. He knows when we are trusting Him because of who He is and not only because of what He can give us. 1 John 3:18(NLT) instructs, “Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.” This verse points to the reality that our actions reveal what is really in our hearts. God is looking at what we do. He’s looking at how we show our love for Him and for one another. This paints the greatest portrait of our faith in Him.
It can turn out to be one of the greatest mistakes of our lives if we marry before we’re spiritually ready. If a man has decided to ask you to be his wife, congratulations! Whether he has or hasn’t, make sure you have gotten a green light from God. Make sure you’ve spent time in prayer and you’re allowing yourself to be led by Him. It’s not unheard of for people to get married only after dating a few months or even less. Many individuals that are wise and seasoned in God’s Word have counseled that dating a full year or more before you decide to get married is a very prudent decision. But nothing is better than hearing and receiving an “okay to proceed” from our Heavenly Father.
Never forget that Heavenly Father wants you to have a strong and committed relationship with your future husband, but this can’t happen without a strong and committed relationship with God. We must learn to hear clearly from Him before we get married, because we’ll desperately need to hear His guidance and instructions throughout our marriages; this is what keeps them strong. It’s better to choose love righteously and be in a committed relationship that He has ordained than to burn in lust and live in sin. God will help us to choose well if we ask and trust Him.
We don’t have to rush into marriage. We can take the time to get to know the person we like and gain an accurate understanding of each other. We must allow ourselves the time to establish a true friendship outside the pressures of pleasing each other in marriage. This is part of the preparation, and it should not be overlooked. If you haven’t met the right person, humble yourself before God. If there is something about your life that blocks you from attracting the right person for you, pause and find out from God what it is. When you’ve taken the time to spiritually prepare yourself for marriage in a way that pleases Heavenly Father, you can be confident that He will help you meet the right person. He’ll let you know when you’ve met them, and He’ll most definitely let you know if it’s okay to proceed. ■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“An ‘Okay to Proceed’ from God”, written by Kim Times, edited by Reverend Fran Mack, for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2021. 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.