Being Single
Being single for 24 years to date has not always been easy. After being married for 15 years, not working a job, and living on a farm, I had to go out into the real world and find a job. Also, having to raise two teenagers was a very big challenge…
These were bittersweet years; God taught me not to be afraid and to never neglect my fearless confidence for He is my exceedingly great reward (Genesis 15:1).
Though determined to do His will…I had a daily challenge which seemed to be totally impossible to overcome. I started feeling so lonely. That was a place I did not want to go, yet I found myself pondering and nurturing this loneliness…the very thing I dreaded. Even during the time that I was married I had to cope on my own. But now it seemed magnified.
This is a very crucial time in any person’s life…to suddenly become single. The challenge to compromise is the order of the day. I faced those challenges and they were as real as daylight; it all seemed so right…to go on the rebound. These thoughts would play in my mind: "Remember you are getting older. Even though the guys you meet are not totally into the Word of God they always seem so nice. Everybody around you agrees you deserve some happiness…and you need someone to care for you and to look after you…you cannot survive on your own." Any excuse under the sun to compromise.
That is an ancient old trap set up by the evil one.
I praise God for His faithfulness! Even though I sometimes thought I was doing the right thing, I often had to make a turnaround. God would remind me that I needed the Holy Spirit to lead and teach me and that I should follow. He grew a hunger in my spirit after Him. As I sought His face, I realized how important it was to totally submit myself under the Lordship of Jesus Christ and trust Him full-heartedly. God’s Word rose up big within me. Philippians 4: 6-7 became a reality to me. His peace flooded my heart.
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus”…and further on the Word says to meditate on all these things of good report.
I encourage you that God can give you a song in the night. His faithfulness endures forever. His Mercies are new every morning.
I thank God for working obedience in my life. No matter the disappointment, He taught me to understand and to sing the Hymn of Faith in Habakkuk 3:17: “Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food; though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls - Yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will joy in the God of my salvation!!”
Remember… there is no one like Him. He can fill your every longing (Job 23:10 & 14): “But He knows the way that you take: when He has tested you, you shall come forth as gold. For He performs what is appointed for you.”
He taught me to be diligent and to do everything my hand finds to do with all my might. I kept investing the Word of God into my children... teaching and training them in the way they aught to go. Today I see my children teaching and training my grandchildren in the fear of God.
He taught me what it means to cast my bread on the water for in many days it will return back to me. There was a time when God sent five young girls, all from different broken homes, into my life. I took them in, one after the other, and helped them to finish their high school years. It was not always easy, but how amazing that I could lead them all to Christ and together we refused to compromise. We all served God with fearless confidence, knowing that He is our great reward.
As I look back on the bittersweet years, I want to encourage all the single people out there. "Count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience, but let patience have its perfect work that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing" (James 1:2-4).
Article by Joey Jacobs. Joey is the mother of Pastor Jacques Jacobs at Family Harvest Church in Tinley Park, Illinois.