Do This Before You Meet Your Future Husband

Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires. Psalm 37:4 When I was seven years old, I wanted a Barbie paper doll book with cute two-dimensional clothes to punch out. I desperately wanted it, so I prayed. I had heard a lot of Bible stories, and I knew, if God could heal a blind man, He could make a paper doll book appear. I told God that He could drop the book in my closet and I’d keep it just between Him and me. I prayed as long and hard as a second grader could. But the next day, when I opened the closet door, the paper doll book wasn’t there. How could that be? Wasn’t God supposed to answer my prayers? A few weeks later, my birthday arrived. Guess what I received? Yes, the paper doll book, among other things. 6 Heart 1 From that experience, I learned a lot about God and myself. Even though my thought process and prayers were immature, I knew I could turn to God with the desires of my heart. But I learned that sometimes prayers aren’t answered in the ways we want. As I grew older, I realized I didn’t need to bargain with God or expect Him to be some sort of magician who makes whatever I want appear (no, not even in my closet). Instead, it’s okay just to share what’s on my heart. Father God knows the desires of our hearts, and He will handle those desires in tender ways. Sometimes He will ask us to wait, knowing the time isn’t right. Other times He will turn our hearts to different desires. Pause and consider what you truly desire in terms of your future husband. Make a list. Then look at that list and pray about those desires. Is it hard to trust God with your desires? The more you delight yourself in the Lord, the more you’ll understand how good God’s heart is toward you. As you delight in Him, your trust in Him will grow. As you pray, you’ll see that His answers are for good, even if they are different from what you wanted. God cares about your desires, but mostly He cares about you. He knows when—or if—your future husband will come and how that person will be the man you truly need, someone your heart will also desire. What desires of your heart do you need to turn over entirely to God, especially concerning your future husband? Father God, You know the desires of my heart. Could You help me trust You with those desires? I know that what I want now might not be what’s best for me. So guide me to de- light in You. Enable me to trust that You know the per- fect gift of a future husband for me and that You will bring him to me at the ideal time. Help me trust that You will give me what I desire or provide me with someone or something better. I ask this in the name of Your Son, Jesus. Amen.