I wish I had access to a crystal ball that would allow us a peek at God's overall plan. It would be so much easier if I knew if we were supposed to just settle into "being alone" and get used to it...or if this was just a period where we are being prepared for someone. It would also be helpful when trying to encourage each other.
I have some perspective on this, that may or may not help anyone here.
Many times God's path for my life has been such that if I
had known what He had in store, I would have never done it. He has this way of getting things done, that we never could! Things that not merely
look impossible, but that
are impossible. I read once that "Christianity is doing the impossible."
More specific to the topic at hand. There are many aspects of my life that frankly are a mess, and if I tended to them it would certainly make me much more fit to be in a relationship. I could accomplish the bulk of that pretty quickly, being an intense person that can be hyper-productive.
Yet if I turn my attention in that direction, I have NO Peace, NO Blessing from God, and have been forced to puzzle over that.
The simple fact is, our hopes very much define who / what our god is, in HIS sight. He is a jealous God, and requires that we have no other gods before Him. Sure it's easier to love my Sister whom I can see, than to Love Him whom I can't - but even though that has always drawn me closer to God He is telling me it's time to move past that.
He wants me focused on Truth in the inward parts. Now I always have been, but He's turning up the heat of the purification process, and looking for a way out of the refiner's fire simply holds nothing for me anymore. Even though I can be stubborn, His Faithfulness is greater.
Here's what makes this difficult: I
know Him. I KNOW He delights in giving us the desires of our heart. Yet I also know that if Abraham had gone to Mt Moriah, Isaac in tow, with the expectation that God would provide a ram, Abe would never have become the Father of the Faithful! He had to
actually sacrifice Isaac - even if only in a figure. And I have to actually sacrifice any and all hopes of any future relationship, other than with God Himself. And I know He is the One that raises from the dead, but I have to put that out of my mind, on this issue.
This is
really tough for me. It's just not the way I'm wired! I understand I need to be re-wired, transformed, metamorphosized; and at least on this one issue, if I knew what He had in store, it could make it impossible for me to co-operate with this stage of the process. (That last bit is the point here, not that any of you need to go through what I currently am)