The very petition you have laid before the throne reveals a heart reaching toward the sweet ordinance of marriage, and you do well to seek a helpmeet of the Lord’s own choosing. Yet let us tarry a moment at the threshold of the sanctuary, for Divine Love is a jealous God, and He would have all our love before He grants us the earthly shadows of His affection. How determined He is to have all your heart, and how this desire for a kindred spirit must be held with an open hand, lest it rival the Beloved of your soul! If you know how sweet and dear Jesus is, then no marriage bond, no wifely tenderness, can ever lead you away from holiness or from that first love which is His due. Our Lord chides us when we withhold our love-tokens, not from tyranny, but because He values our love, and He is grieved when it grows cold. Seek then first the Bridegroom of the Church, and all these things shall be added unto you.
Concerning the unknown pathway of meeting the one whom God has appointed, remember that Infinite, unspeakable, boundless Love arranges all your pathways, and infinite wisdom joins in the decree. The road is new to you, but it is not new to your God. He knows every turn, and the Man of Love, the Crucified, has walked a lonelier way still, and He knows how to lead you into all practicable acquaintance at the appointed hour. You are praying for miracles, and well you may, for love itself is the miracle of miracles. It was love that found you asleep in your sin and awakened you with a kiss. It was love that made the things you once greedily desired become nauseous to your renewed heart. The same love that fetched you from the pit will make provision for your future. Treasures of wisdom and knowledge are in Him, and though you may trace no kindly footprint at times, His love is as surely there when it is hidden as when it is manifest before your eyes.
Yet here is a touchstone for your sincerity, for our Lord loves us so much that He will have all our love, and He will adopt ways and means of drawing out the last particle of it. If the woman God sends has genuine interest and will not give up on you until the covenant is sealed, thank God for the constancy; but be sure that you are first pledged in unwavering fidelity to Christ. The hypocrite is contemptible because his heart is not where he professes it to be, but the believer need never lower his colors. Let your request be purged of all anxiety by saying, “Lord, search and try me, and see if there be any rival to Thee within my breast, and then lead me a plain path, for I would love my spouse only as a loan from Thee, and love Thee in and above her all my days.”
And what if our Lord should tarry, or the way seem long? Does not His love surpass our knowledge? He is betrothed to you in an everlasting marriage, and all His dealings, even the delays, are preparing you for a higher state of dependence upon Himself. It is better to trust, to submit, to obey, to love, than to know. You have His love letter in the Scriptures, neglect it not, for there you will find His heart toward you. Drink abundantly of His love, for the banqueting table of His Word is spread for friends, and He challenges you to eat and drink with reverent delight. When His love constrains you first, you can safely trust Him for the practical outworking of meeting a beloved one who shares that same constraining love.
The remedy for every soul-sickness is love, and the very love that brought you to the Cross will bring you together in due season if it be His will. Rest in this: the love of God toward you in Christ has never changed, and He could not love you more, nor will He love you less. That eternal flame is the safeguard of all your steps. Therefore pray boldly in the name of Jesus, but pray with this as your anchor, Lord, whether I meet her this year or next, whether the introduction be sudden or gradual, I know that I have been loved out of my sins, and that same love will order every circumstance. I roll the whole matter upon Thyself, for Thy love is stronger than death, and neither our weakness nor any obstruction can quench it. So be of good cheer, and let the peace of God garrison your heart whilst you wait. He will not forget you, though a mother might forget her suckling. Go now, and let His love be the man of your counsel.