J u n e is w e l l p a s t . Its brides have settled down to the joys and trials of building a marriage. A new crop of marriages will soon be upon us. Yet there are numbers of unmarried women left. Once again this June, they have attended numerous bridal showers, donated to several wedding presentations and congratulated various brides. Now these “unclaimed blessings” have once again settled down to life in an apartment, devoid of male companion ship and the patter of little feet. Some of these women are single by choice; others would give anything for a husband and children. The latter struggle many lonely hours against the bitter rea lization that their chances of marriages are dwindling year by year. To some of them, this is the price they have paid for their devotion to Christ. They have refused to accept an unequal yoke of marriage with an unsaved partner. About all the church offers them for this kind of consecration is a constant barrage of kidding and a daily reminder that they have somehow missed the ma trimonial boat. I feel a special debt to unmarried women because it was through one of them that I first heard the gospel and was led to Christ. It was .another “ old maid,” as we brutally call these people, who took the time to deal with me personally about the value of dedication of my will to God. So I am repaying that debt by presenting the plight of unmarried women as I see it. I see great value in this group for God and the church. Paul admits that when people are married they are often too concerned about how to please a husband or wife to give themselves fully to the service of God. To be sure, God uses both married and single to serve Him. How ever, these single women, without the responsibility of home and children, can make a very significant contribu tion to God’s work. If all of them were removed from the ranks of Christian service, we would be poor indeed. Yet, how much do we really appreciate them? Instead, we often make them the recipients of our jests. Our remarks and attitudes have produced in many unmarried women an overdose of crippling self-pity; in others there arises a determination to squeeze the utmost of pleasure from life: to fulfill themselves in a round of trips and parties, clothes-buying, and concert-going. In others we have produced a desperate all-out attempt to snare a man.
The married have had little concern or thought for the needs and problems of the unmarried minority. We have made no provision for them, and their associates whom they could be challenged to win to Christ, if we did not embarrass them at every turn. I, for one, feel like throwing out this challenge to you, the unmarried women of our churches. There is a life of glorious victory and joy for you, and God needs you urgently. Your first step toward usefulness is to accept your single state, until it changes. It is a step of trust in God’s ability to order your life in just the best way for you. This faith removes the frustration and struggle to change your status, and the brooding over what you may feel life has not given you. Feelings of discontent are paralyzing to the personality, and a weight on spir itual progress. They engender resentment and jealousy. These insidious enemies dull the glow of a happy Chris* tian. To be effective you must believe that God has a plan for you which may or may not include a husband. Accept this fact. After that things get easier. Then ask God to give you a ministry for Him. If you have an official po sition, fine. If not, you can be a soul-winner which, after all, is the Christian’s highest calling. Your love need not go to waste. There are many sinners and babes in Christ for whom you can lovingly care. How much will it matter one hundred years from now whether you were married? It will, however, matter whether you gave yourself heartily to doing God’s will and work. You may at times feel that you do not fit into the family-oriented program of the local church, but you will fit perfectly into God’s plan for you. He plans individually. Though marriage, in God’s will, is blessed, single status, in God’s will, can be equally fruitful and rewarding. Certainly your position is much more to be desired than that of your impatient sisters who leaped headlong into mar riages out of the will of God. To these you can truly say, “ I would rather be an old maid than to wish I were.” Why not this year, if you haven’t before, learn to be content in whatsoever state you are. And who knows, with a new glow from God, you may become one of next year’s June brides. If not, you will be too wrapped up in all-out living for Him to let it disturb your peace and effectiveness.
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THE KING'S BUSINESS
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