Isaiah 34:16 – 6.23.09

Isaiah 34:16 Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them.

Interesting phrase in the middle of that verse, and to tell the truth, I'm not real sure what it's doing there – none shall want her mate. What I am sure about is that in its context the phrase has nothing to do with the topic of this post, but nonetheless it provides a perfect opportunity to take a look at what the Bible says about finding Mr./Mrs. Right.

Now, thankfully, this topic is not at all applicable to me. I started praying about the girl I would marry when I was about 12 or 13, and I was blessed to meet the girl of my dreams when I was 15 years old. We immediately became friends…and quickly grew to become best friends…and figured out by the time we were 18 that we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together…and praise God we became husband and wife on December 16, 2006 (21 years old). And it just keeps on getting better.

I do realize, however, that things don't work out quite that way for everybody. I'm sure there are many fine Christian young men and women who love God and want to be married, but aren't. There are also some Christian young people who aren't yet ready to be married but want to be one day and might end up waiting longer than they'd like. So I'd just like to give you a few Bible principles to consider in hopes of being a blessing and an encouragement.

1. Marriage is a good thing. Genesis 2:18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. Proverbs 18:22 Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD. In my personal opinion, Paul's 1 Corinthians 7 recommendation of the single lifestyle hinges on the phrase in verse 26, for the present distress… If there's a good chance I'm going to be eaten by lions in the coliseum tomorrow, maybe I'd better rethink getting married today.

2. God wants to give you good things. Psalm 84:11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. Psalm 34:10 The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.

3. But He wants you to put Him first. Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. The these things of Matthew 6:33 are the temporal needs of this life. Brother, sister, if you're striving to serve God and you're putting His will first in your life, and you need a spouse – God will give you one. (And you'd much rather God give you one than you find one yourself.) The best thing to do would be to make sure you walk uprightly (Psalm 84:11), seek the Lord (Psalm 34:10), put Him first (Matthew 6:33), and trust Him to provide what you need on His timetable, not yours.

Bro. James once preached a message from Genesis 24 on "Choosing A Spouse." It focused on the qualities and characteristics to look for in a marriage partner, but there are two lines from that message that I will never forget. The first one is, "It'd be better not to be married and wish you were than to be married and wish you weren't." And the second went something like this, "If I were looking for a husband/wife, I'd be doing all I could to make sure I was the best God had to offer…"

There's probably nothing better in this life than marriage the way God intended it, and there's probably nothing worse in this life than a marriage that's out of sorts. If you want God's blessing (and you do) then be sure you do things God's way. Amen.