Living With a Hope Deferred – Part 2
Part TWO of Focus on the Family’s Radio Broadcast on Singleness continues today.
Today is a continuation of yesterday’s conversation with Dr.Dobson. Candice Watters and I discuss some of the challenges to trusting God that single women face (such as childlessness, which is not exclusive to single women). As I recall it, our original conversation was a lot longer, which is of course a challenge to the editors at Focus. But I think they did a good job of distilling our main points (and making me more concise!).
To be honest, five years down the line from the publication of my first book on singleness, I didn’t think I would still be talking about it. But the more I do, the more I realize that my opinions on the topic (and anyone else’s) are just that … opinions. They are perspectives gleaned from experience. What’s most important to me is if you encounter a great and glorious God when you listen to my experience. Because that’s been what I’ve gleaned in these years: His faithfulness is what I have to reassure anyone who is panicking that they might end up in a similar position.
As Dr. Grudem said one Sunday morning at my church, he doesn’t know anyone over 50 who has not had a significant trial or affliction. If you live long enough, you will encounter difficulty because it’s what happens in a fallen world. But this is not the end of the story. Not only will we experience God’s redemptive activity in this life, we have the promise of sin-free, pain-free life everlasting with Him in eternity. So if I am called by God to glorify Him as a single woman, even though I desire marriage, I know He is not wasting that desire or my small sacrifice in the years I have lived in that tension. He is weaving that into His plan to rescue, redeem, and reclaim His children.
And that’s my confidence in extended singleness.
© Carolyn McCulley
