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"For the Bride in Waiting"
Trusting God for a Husband

Every little girl dreams of the day she'll wear that beautiful white wedding gown. I know that some of you might be saying, "No, not me." But, unless you have the call to be single, then I believe you have the call to be a wife. Perhaps you have already been a wife, but through life's falleness, your marriage failed. And, now you're longing again to fulfill that call to come along side a man and be his helpmeet. Perhaps, you've never been married and for reasons only God knows, He has not brought you to your mate. Whatever situation you are in, let me encourage you to begin to pray anyway. As long as that desire is there, begin to pray now for the one whom God just might bring your way. Let God work in you according to His good pleasure. Let God even prepare you to be a bride. Let Him begin that work of purification to prepare for that holy day.

Trusting God with Your Life
Trusting God for a husband can create a tension in the feminine soul of a woman who longs to fulfill that which God created her to fulfill. According to Genesis 1 and 2 and 1 Corinthians 11:9, God created woman for the man and not man for the woman. Everything within a woman was deposited by God to equip her to come along side a man to be his "creative counterpart," supporter, confidant, complimenter, encourager, lover, and friend. A woman was not created to mother him, tell him what to do or how to do it, compete with him, or be responsible for him or even impede the weight he must feel in being the one responsible. God designed women to partner with a man-for Kingdom purposes. So, what does a single woman do? How does she live in a state of contentment until God opens the eyes of the man that He has for her? How does she wait in peace and trust until HE sees her and pursues her? I love Webster's definition of pursue: to follow in order to overtake or capture; chase; to follow (a specified course, action), to strive for, to continue to annoy. My question to the woman in her season of singleness is do you have a specific course, which you have thought about in which you will find a man. On the other hand, are you waiting, trusting, praying, and allowing God to prepare you as a Bride like He did Esther? Your answer will reveal your level of peace and contentment. Your answer will reveal your trust level in God. Your answer will reveal how well you really know God. Men must pursue. In a relationship waiting to be developed, the man, if he is a good and godly man - rightly related to God, will be the pursuer of the relationship. Keep in mind God made and commissioned men to be leaders,hunters, conquerors, and pursuers. If a woman initiates and pursues-then it has been my observation that femininity strips itself of beauty. Precious women, I know you WANT a strong man to find you and lead you. You want a leader-not a follower, and, if you initiate, (synonyms-begin, start, instruct) then you have set yourself up to have a follower. If a man does not initiate, then he's not mature enough, hasn't been around some good strong men enough, and probably has some "mother issues." Let him go. Wait for God. Trust in God. Let your soul find its rest in God. Find your place. Proverbs 18:22 says that it's the man who finds the wife-not the wife who finds the man! He, who finds a wife, finds a good thing. You are the good thing waiting to be found. I think that if you're "looking," then it might be awhile before you're found. Let me encourage you to do a study on Rebecca, Abigail, Ruth, Esther, and Rachel. These women model God's heart in a woman being found by the man. Even Boaz noticed Ruth gleaning in his field. Any man that steps into an arena with a woman initiator has limited vision. You want a man with vision - trust me, you really do!

Finding that Place while You Wait
What does a woman do to find her place in this season of being single and in this season of waiting? First, her thoughts need to be renewed. What she thinks about her situation needs to line up with what God thinks about it. If the two don't "match" then she'll tend to operate out of control, manipulation, and intimidation as she subtlety seeks to get "what she wants-when she wants it." Women are good at "working it." Next, it's important for her to guard her heart. Right thinking about her life must lead. If "how she feels" leads she will be led into chaos. Then, she needs to be gut level honest with God about how she does"feel." And, in that honesty, she needs to remember that this is His business in preparing her as a Bride. He has IT in perfect control - so if she's trying to control IT-she needs to stop it and trust Him with IT. This is all about God and knowing Him and His ways. Next, she needs to practice waiting for him (even if it takes 5, 10, 15 years). This all has to do with God's timetable. In the waiting, she needs to get busy discovering her own dreams, passions, and gifts. If she has children in her home, she needs to understand that THEY are her first priority. A "bride in waiting" needs to get to know her children in new ways. She should discover their gifts, encourage them in what they are a good at, and even prod them to try new things. A "bride in waiting" does well when she models for her children what being a mother of prayer looks like. I always encourage "brides in waiting" to work on manners and etiquette with her children. I make it a priority that she begins to implement the Power of the Table Principle. I encourage "brides in waiting" to take walks with her children and build them up in the faith. What she says and does models much. I encourage her to pray with them about God giving them a husband and father. It's also the time for her to lead in some talk about their fears, desires, hurts, longings, etc.

Developing the Spiritual Habit of Sanctuary Journaling
Next, every "bride in waiting" needs to develop the habit of Sanctuary Journaling. The purpose of Sanctuary Journaling is to create a safe place where feminine soul can express itself. There are no rules for journaling; just let whatever is in soul pour out. Sometimes journaling can help dump out the toxins in the soul. Other times Sanctuary Journaling releases expressions of dreams and desires hidden in the soul. Thoughts, attitudes, and deep feelings about life or relationships will be recognized through
journaling. Sanctuary Journaling is an instrument of confession that is done in a quiet place; a place that's your Sanctuary. Sanctuary is that place woman nurtures her relationship with God. It's the place where she communes with Him about her relationship with others, about life, or whatever is on her heart. When she journal in the Sanctuary, she is able to track the Spirit of God's work in her lives as she moves toward change and holiness. It's key for a "bride in waiting" to take a look (with the Lord and/or a girlfriend) at some of the mistakes she's made. What unhealthy patterns of relating does she operate out of? Is she seductive? Does she flirt? How does she dress? Is she withdrawn? Is she constantly thinking about a man? What are some fears? What does she do with the loneliness? What is her inner life like? Is there order in her home? Is she bitter? Is she honest? Is she self-protective? Does she love God and desire holiness enough to ask a girl friend to share with her the areas that she sees which she might be blinded to? Is she open to an honest evaluation of unhealthy ways she might be relating to men, her children, and others?

God is Preparing Every Bride for a Day
What God is ultimately doing is preparing "the bride in waiting" for another wedding day. He's getting her ready for THAT Day. The THAT Day, which I am referring to, goes beyond a wedding day. It's the day where we all will stand before Jesus-at the Judgment Seat of Christ and answer for our attitudes and motives and behaviors of our hearts. Whatever was not done
with a pure motive will be judged by fire-whatever is left (gold, silver) will be presented to our LORD (1 Corinthians 3: 12-16). The book of Matthew says that all our idle words will be judged as well. Are our lips leaky with grumbling and complaining about the season that any of us are in? Are we critical or jealous of other women? Is our heart hardening because our timetable is different than God's? Have we placed ourselves in the judgment
seat of how our life should be run? If a "bride in waiting" is feeling
desperate in wanting to "get married," it would be wisdom for her to evaluate her motive in wanting to "find" a man. Somehow, with listening friends, she has to make it her life to "trust Jesus" for her future. I always encourage "waiting brides" to learn NOW to trust Jesus, His ways and to practice becoming what I call a 1 Peter 3 Woman. Every woman, a married "bride," or a "bride in waiting" needs to learn to walk in purity, godliness, and trust. According to 2 Peter 1:3 God has given all of us everything we need for life and godliness. We have His power to be a 1 Peter
3 Woman. Although 1 Peter 3 is written to wives, it is for every woman. Verse 3 says that our beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes (this isn't saying that our appearance shouldn't be as neat and lovely as possible). Instead, it should be that of our inner beauty, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight.

Inner Beauty Has Potential to Change Everything
As a woman, did you know that inner beauty has the potential to change the world? Developing inner beauty promotes peace in our soul and it brings peace to others. Inner beauty begins to develop when our priority focus is not on our outward appearance (although this is important) or on the circumstances, that surrounds us, but on the character, that God wants to
build within our feminine soul. Putting our hope in God and not giving way to fear is the key to developing this inner beauty. In 1 Peter, Chapter 3, Verse 5, Peter discloses the secret way the holy women made themselves look beautiful. Their inner beauty came from putting their hope in God. Hope in God was their strength. And, hope in God is our strength, too. As a "bride in waiting," when your hope is in God and what He will do, how can you continue to be fearful in your present circumstance? You must be encouraged to hope in God, by looking to Him to provide the love, security, and joy especially during those times when others aren't or when others fail you.

The Prince on the White Horse - Will Fall Off
As a "bride in waiting," if you think that your future husband will be your prince on the white horse, meeting all your desires and emotional needs, you'll be in for a rude awakening. This cannot be your goal. When a woman makes it her goal to get her emotional needs met through a man, she'll end up controlling or manipulating him. When those needs are met through him,
she can rejoice and thank God, but when they aren't her love relationship with her Lord can and will provide her with the fulfillment she longs for. Hope wanes when she pins it on a man. In other words, she must ultimately look to Jesus for those emotional needs to be met and not demand that others meet them.

Understanding the difference between a goal and a desire is helpful. A goal is something for which we take full responsibility. A desire is something we pray about. So, if this is a season of singleness for you, be renewed in the spirit of your mind, reminding yourself that God is in total control of your
situation and He knows your heart's desires. Consecrate your "fleshly pulls" to the Lord. Let character be developed in you while you wait. Tell the Lord the truth about how you feel.

Practice the Spiritual Habit of Sanctuary Journaling.

Work on developing inner beauty.

Do not pursue a man. Let him find you. Seek to become a 1 Peter 3 Woman. Hope in God and make it your goal to let the Lord meet your emotional needs until God brings that man your way.

Stay in close fellowship with some older women (whether older spiritually or in years or both) who will mentor you through your season of singleness. And, to the older Titus 2 woman, reading this chapter - take the initiation to invite the single women (in your fellowship) into a mentoring relationship. You don't have to be an expert, you just need to "be there" and according to Titus 2 you need to model some important characteristics and be sound in scripture (Titus 2). And, encourage them to pray power prayers for the "Mighty Man in the Making" that God just might bring their way!