I'm actually super excited to write this blog post...migraine and all. Right now I'm propped up on my couch, with Hollywood Exes playing in the background on my TV with a fresh mug of my favorite Starbucks Tazo chai tea. All in all, I really felt like this was so important to write because so many women settle for the wrong man...thinking that God has forgotten about them, or maybe that it's "taking too long" for them to get settled down as they look around and see their friends getting hitched and starting a family one by one.
Anyways, I was recently given the assignment for a website that I write for, Believe.com, to write a review on the book Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers. They only gave me 5 days to read the book and to write the review! I was completely freaked out and pissed...because for one, I have a full-time job and two, I just don't have the time to read as much as I used to...for a 5 day turn around! So, I picked the book up from Barnes and Nobles only to discover that the book was approximately 450+ pages long! *GROAN!*
Low and behold....I was blessed BEYOND MEASURE by reading this book and finished it in 2 days. I literally could not put the book down.
As a 30 year old Christian single woman, it can be easy sometimes to fall victim to society's pressures of "You're supposed to be married and have children by this age...." and yada yada yada. I've been single for 2 years now and I'm like every other single woman out there that wants to love and be loved. BUT...in my quest for a God-fearing Christian man, I'm not settling and definitely not desperate. I sometimes wonder "Is there really someone out there for me? Is there really a guy out there with the same values as me? Does a man who loves God with all of his heart really exist? When will God deliver me my husband?"
Well after reading this book, I am so encouraged that just as God pursues us, so will my husband-to-be. This book re-tells the bible story of Gomer and Hosea. In the book, Gomer is likened to Angel, a prostitute who has been through many challenges in life and who feels unworthy of any man's love. She's only used to men wanting her for that one thing and is hardened to men because of that. Hosea is Michael Hosea in the book...a man who looked at Angel walking in the street one time, and knew that she was his wife. He was a Christian man; well known and respected in the community but risked it all...to pursue a prostitute who God put on his heart as his wife.
After catching just a glimpse of Angel, Michael pursued and pursued Angel...knowing that this is the woman that God wanted him to marry. Many times Angel strayed away but he loved her nonetheless, praying to God that she will seek after Him. Angel wasn't perfect...she was known in town as the best prostitute on the block...but Michael loved her through all of her imperfections and led her spiritually to God.
~He who finds a wife, finds what is good and receives favor from the Lord. Proverbs 18:22~
There are many lessons in this book--self-forgiveness, redemption, God's pursuit after us, restoration. But the theme of what it truly means as a woman to have a man of God love us with all of his heart--to cherish us and pursue us, to pray with us...to be there for us when we are weak and to lift us up spiritually was very comforting.
Could it be that I'm a hopeless romantic just entangled in a well-written love story? Nah! When it comes to relationships, I just always leave the outcome up to God...but reading this book at the most inopportune time and as my first assignment for Believe.com was not a coincidence. God was speaking to me and reassuring me that he's got this one in the bag.
One of my senior leaders at church told me: "Hey Leah, just as you are preparing yourself for your husband...just know that somewhere...your husband is doing the same for you."
So if you're single...or maybe not single, just in a tough area in your current relationship...you're just wondering whether there really is a man out there for you. One who's on fire for God, who goes to church and worships God for real and not for show...one who will look at you like the queen that you are...then definitely read this book. It will have you encouraged and comforted in knowing that your patience in waiting is not in vain--it's all a part of God's plan.
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| Pic taken in Lihu'e, Kauai, Hawaii...I was really just overtaken by how beautiful everything was and how fortunate I was to be there |
~Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain; but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised. Proverbs 31: 30~
