You can't overcome the struggles of singleness and marriage
- Madison
- Jun 24
- 3 min read
During my single years, one the things I struggled with a lot was envy. I saw people in romantic relationships and burned with covetous desire for what they had. It didn’t matter if they were a friend or a person online that I had never met - if they were enjoying the romantic love that I desired, I was irritated by them, and I was irritated at God for not giving me what they had.
Then I finally learned to take God seriously when He promised that I could be satisfied in Him alone. I decided to believe that the promise of an abundant life- a life of joy, peace, meaning and purpose - was for me as a single woman, and was available to me today - not when I got married or had something in my circumstances change. I started believing God when He said that sins like envy, lust, and discontent no longer had to have control of me. When I put my faith in God’s truth, I started to see His power become active in my life.
Strengthened by His might and transformed by meditating on His Word, I could go to the job I didn’t love with a glow in my heart - a desire to reach those I would interact with and to be a light for Jesus. I could see happy couples and be happy for them. I could have a longing for marriage and yet be fully satisfied by Jesus - no longer wallowing in envy and self-pity.
My need for God’s power didn’t end when I got married. I have the same old flesh and a new set of struggles that require God’s strength. I need His strength to be a selfless servant of the one I married, to put my husband before myself, to be gracious when I am wronged and to be humble when I am the one who causes hurt. I need grace to give without expecting in return, to be patient and long-suffering when things aren’t going my way, and simply to be the woman God wants me to be.
My husband is amazing. The most loving and kind man I know. But because we live in a fallen world, even the most wonderful of marriages are still a classroom of sanctification, still a means God uses to soften our rough edges, to make us meet for His use, and to pull us into a closer walk with Him. The fight with my flesh didn’t end when I got a husband, in fact it awakened other parts of my selfish “old man” that need to be crucified.
Sister, the hard parts of singleness and marriage are opportunities for you to see God’s power in your life. Wherever you are weak, wherever you are tired, wherever you are struggling, wherever your flesh is putting up a fight, that’s where God wants to be strong on your behalf. That’s where you can experience Him strengthening you and being for you what you ought to be in each and every moment. But first, you have to come to Him and admit that you need His power. You can't overcome the struggles of life, singleness or marriage in your own strength.
Here’s how to start experiencing God’s glorious power in your life right now:
Believe the Lord when He told you that His strength would be made perfect in your weakness.
Admit to Him that you can’t do this on your own, that you desperately need His power.
Surrender yourself and let Him have full control of you.
Ask Him to be your strength and trust Him to keep His promise.
You'll be amazed at how much more peaceful life gets when you let the Lord fight your battles for you and have control of you completely. This single sister agrees:
“That ye may be....Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;” Colossians 1:11
“And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power.” 1 Corinthians 6:14
P.S. If you're experiencing those "miserable years of struggle" as our sister shared above, you can end the misery today. My course will walk you through step by step how to walk in the joy, peace and contentment that Christ offers. Check it out here!
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