Searching for a Spouse

Posted on 22 November 2009.

‘L' has been a Christian for just a couple of years. Her father was a violent man who beat both his wife and daughter throughout ‘L's childhood, until eventually her parents divorced.

As a young woman she came to know the Lord and found healing for the emotional wounds she carried. Now in her mid-twenties, the pressure is on for her to marry. Remembering her childhood experiences, she is determined to find a husband who will be good to her. Yet men are far outnumbered by women in her church. One young man is interested in her, but both her friends and her pastor are warning her that he is immature and lazy. She knows they are right, but worries that no one else will ever want her if she turns this man down.

Before she came to know the Lord, ‘R' was involved in a relationship and became pregnant. She took what she thought was the only way out and had an abortion; later she discovered the operation had caused her apparently permanent damage and she may well not be able to have another child. Today ‘R' is a leader in a house church fellowship. Already in her early thirties, her parents consider it a terrible loss of face that she is still unmarried. Recently she has found a new boyfriend, but worries how he will react to the story of her past.

‘N' too is almost ‘over the hill' by Chinese standards, now that she has reached her thirties. She prayed desperately for a husband and was finally asked out by a young man in her church. However, he is several years younger than her, which brought objections from both their families. Eventually the respective families gave their blessing and the wedding was planned. Now ‘N' faces new struggles as she adjusts to sharing her life with someone else after so many years of independence.

Finding a suitable husband is a tremendous pressure for young Christian ladies in China. Pray that they will be able to stand strong against family and cultural pressure to marry a non-Christian or someone unsuitable.

Pray for ‘L', ‘R' and ‘N', real people with real but different worries and needs. May the Lord give each one His peace, joy and wisdom in their individual situations.

Give thanks that the Lord can bring complete healing from the physical and emotional hurts of our childhood. Pray that many more Chinese people might experience that for themselves.

Pray that Christian couples might build their relationships on the solid Rock and be powerful witnesses of His truth to those around them.