by Victoria Thornton

"Get married!" It was the answer the Lord have given me, as I asked him for a solution to a small but major crisis I was experiencing. The crisis was I would need finances to pay the rent on an apartment the following month or I would have to leave. If you have ever lived in an apartment, you know the owners take quick action to evict you if they don't receive their money quickly. I knew I only had weeks to resolve this issue if I wanted to continue living my current lifestyle, so I increased the intensity of my prayers seeking God diligently for wisdom in this situation. I knew that if I could hear God and get His direction, my problem would be solved. I knew the Father could help me just like He helped Peter and Jesus pay their taxes in Matthew 17:24.  Or the woman in the Old Testament whose sons were being taken by creditors if she did not pay in II Kings 4:1. I felt as desperate as she probably felt and knew, like her, I would find my solution in God. Therefore, I knew if God provided for them, God would provide for me. 

I began seeking the Lord reminding Him of all his promises. I reminded Him of Jeremiah 33:3, I John 5:15, Matthew 7:7, where it says, 'ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you' and many others because time was short and I had to hear from God.  Although I knew I should leave the 'how' to God but I expected Him to show me where the money was or speak to someone and give me the money. But it was probably one or two days later when the Lord spoke and to my wonderment, God had an entirely different answer than I expected. God's answer to my very pressing financial problem that I needed to have by the end of the month or risk being kicked out, was: “GET MARRIED!"

“Get Married” as I repeated in disbelief. I asked, how Lord when I didn't even know where my mate was at the time. I had no communication with him – we weren't even on speaking terms, yet the Lord's response to my rent being paid at the end of the month was, “Get married.” So as I pondered the Lord's answer, it seemed cruel and out of touch. Didn't God understand all the necessary steps it took to get married even when a couple is on speaking terms? Getting back together, for instance, in my mind would take time and I was out of time. I needed the money, now! And if by some miracle we did come together quickly, was I supposed to tell my mate about my financial problems? I thought, 'is this the way God wanted me to start our relationship with me asking for financial help?’

When I talked this over with a friend, I mentioned that the money I needed was coming due and God’s answer to this pressing problem was to get married. I complained to my friend saying, 'that the Lord acts like I can flip a switch and have my mate appear!'  My friend looked at me and said, “maybe you can,” she said, “maybe it is that easy but you are making it hard.” I later learned that it was about flipping a switch – flipping on the switch of faith, that is --but at that time I was perplexed.  So I decided to seek the Lord again because I had to have the money to pay the rent or else.

So I prayed and fasted and sure enough the Lord did not waver. This time He said, “Let your mate help you." 'What?' I thought. 'How am I supposed to get help from my mate in time to pay the rent that is due in a few weeks?' I didn't know what to do with His answer so I went back to job hunting. Prior to this, I had been job hunting with no one calling back. This time it seemed worse. I couldn't find anything suitable to even apply for!

Now since the money that I needed had not come in yet and I had no interviews being set up, with the days swiftly going by, I decided I might as well obey the Lord. But 'how', I thought as I sat in despair.  After a few moments, I became annoyed and yanked out a piece of paper saying, ‘Lord, okay. You said, to let my mate help me even though I don't know where he is and our communication is nil. Great, here is the amount I need help paying'. I have to admit I was being a smart-aleck when I asked, 'should I be expecting him to pay with his credit card or with cash?' Then I threw the paper down and considered it handled. I walked away thinking, it was no longer my problem. It was never my problem but it finally dawned on me that if it was to be resolved, He had to resolve it. My job was to simply do what He said. As I walked out the room my last words to God regarding this situation was  ‘ handle it’.

Praise the Lord, He certainly did handle it but not before letting me sit in that situation a few days, but I refused to budge. Every time I thought about my need, I replaced it with God's instruction to let my spouse help even though I didn't know where He was at the time. There were times the devil would remind me that I didn't have the money so I'd better start packing. When thoughts like these entered my mind, I would quickly put them back on what God said.  To keep my mind on Him, I held onto His Word. The Word says, in Romans 10:17, so then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.   I was determined to have only faith permeate my being since I knew faith was a major proponent in seeing this situation resolved.  Since it only takes a mustard seed amount of faith to move mountains, according to Jesus in Matthew 17:20, I was working to purify the faith that I did have.

I had to work to enter His rest by removing the unbelief and other things that were prone to choke the Word from my heart and render it unfruitful. 

When out of the blue a friend called me.

She received a three-month position in the city I was living in and needed a place to stay.  She had been unemployed for a while and didn't have the money to stay in a hotel and asked would I consider letting her stay with me.  She said, if I did, she would pay the entire rent by the end of the month! After telling her, “yes!" I hung up the phone and asked, “what just happened?”

What happened was God had just moved in my situation and made it look incredibly easy. My most pressing problem that caused me much stress, God wiped out in a ten-minute phone call. Now, my spouse didn't show up at that time, but the provision sure did and I learned an important lesson that day. I learned that had I not pursued God instructions, the financial need that I had unmet would have remained unmet. But, the moment I obeyed and stood my ground, God provided. I also learned that because I had to have my need met, I became diligent about my faith for my mate when before I was casual.

It was later that I learned that God was changing my direction. He wanted me to solely focus on getting married and while He didn't cause the drying up of my finances, He used it to get my attention. And, believe me, He had my attention. I learned He wanted me to become more diligent in using my faith and to remove the obstacles to getting married. I had become so busy, I had let it grow stale but God was making sure I put believing Him for the return of my mate back in the forefront.

Also, since God's primary method of communication is through our spirit, I had let my faith grow so cold that the downturn of my situation brought me to my knees to seek Him.   Don't be like me.  Don't get to the place spiritually where you are so busy that you drown out the voice of God and open the door for painful circumstances to draw you back to Him.

And lastly, God did handle it. He handled it so smoothly and easily, I felt like I had egg on my face from seeing how so incredibly easy it was for Him. God handled it and I give Him all the glory for his miraculous solution to my perplexing problem. I was under intense pressure because of it and it was no problem for God.

This situation also let me see the seriousness of God wanting me married. When I let it grow cold, He allowed my life to be shaken a little to get me back on track.  And as a result, I have no doubt that God wants you married, if you desire to be.  So if you are reading this thinking God must not care because you haven't seen much happen in this area of your life, be encouraged. God is on YOUR side and truly wants you married more than you desire to be.  

For instance, I recall a time when I was going through very tough circumstances.  Things weren't working out as I liked, so being frustrated I yelled out, 'God, whose side are you on?'  And from my spirit I heard the Lord yell back, 'YOUR SIDE!  (Psalms 118:6)

-- The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me? --   Psalm 118:6

So whatever you may be experiencing as you believe for your mate or the return of your mate and you want to be married, God wants the same thing. God has great wisdom and an easy solutions to whatever may be plaguing you.

Therefore, here are a few points I want to leave you with:

1. If you ask God for the gift of marriage, then you already have it (I John 5-14-15, Mark 11:24, Luke 12:32, John 16:34).  Remember God wants you married more than you desire to be  and He is working to get the person to you.  If you let it grow cold and stop trusting Him for it, then everything stops because God can't do it without you.  You may find God trying to get your attention in other ways to stir you up again.

2. It is not hard for God to bring your mate across your path. If you are thinking that it is hard, then your thinking needs changing. Please know, if God is dealing with you; then He is dealing with him or her.  And here's something that may surprise you,  you may be holding up the manifestation and not your mate.  Your mate could be in a holding pattern while God is working on you.

3. More important, know there is a switch that you can turn on and that switch is the switch of real bible faith. You will have to turn the switch of faith on and never turn it off.

So in closing, if God allowed the drying up of my finances to get my attention, could He possibly be allowing something in your life to get yours? If you are doing your best to believe God with no foreseeable results, I would love to add you to my prayers.  Send your prayer requests here. †