God promises His peace to those who take their burdens to Him. But can we expect Him to act on our behalf?   Yes, we can.   Even when it comes to long-term, unexpected singleness.   I’m looking forward to talking more about the aspects of God’s nature—His sovereignty and redemption—that He uses when acting on our behalf. I’ve spent so much time focusing on our need to process emotions of disappointment and longing, however, because I think it’s a crucial prerequisite to accurately perceiving His nature.   While I don’t assume that every unmarried woman is living in the throes of...

Over the years, some lyrics I heard in high school by the band Out of the Grey have floated to my mind time and again. They’re from the song “He is Not Silent,” which deals with the question of whether God hears and responds to the prayers of His children. The line that always comes back to me is this:   He is not silent / He is not whispering / We are not quiet / We are not listening   As we consider bringing long-term disappointment about singleness or anything else to God, we may wonder whether He will respond to us. Hannah’s encounter with God helps answer that question. When she poured...

When was the last time you felt safe telling someone everything that was in your heart? It takes a lot of time and trust to reach that level of honesty with a person—someone with whom you hold nothing back.   God is that kind of person. He longs to hear everything, no matter how bad you think it is—even if it’s anger at Him for not fulfilling the desires of your heart. Jesus, who called Himself the Truth, said the truth would set us free.   We’ve been talking about God’s heart toward us in seasons of disappointment, revealed through Hannah’s prayer in the temple. She held nothing back when...

What feels impossible in your life right now? Getting a date or finding a husband? How about a job, a friend, a place to live?   Hannah’s impossible circumstance was infertility. Back then, there was no in vitro fertilization. There were no drugs or procedures to make the impossible possible.   Hannah believed that only God’s power could overcome the circumstance that she felt powerless to change. She believed that, against all medical and physical odds, He could make the barren womb conceive.   That’s why she asked for a son, and why she made a vow to give that child back to God as a...

If you grew up in the Church, you might feel guilty if you are disappointed because of your long-time singleness. You might feel selfish or sinful for desiring a partner, a lover, a companion.   Hannah could have had these same fears when dealing with her intense desire to have a child. Maybe her husband was right; his love was enough! Shouldn’t she be content with that? Wasn’t it enough to be part of God’s chosen people?   Yet, she dared to approach Him with the subject: “And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the Lord and wept in anguish” (1 Samuel 1:10). What flowed in those...