Good morning, ladies! It is well with my soul today. The Lord is so good, isn’t He? I’m very excited to dive into chapters 9 and 10 of Let Me Be a Woman by Elisabeth Elliot this morning. We have a quiet day at home planned, with a bit of cleaning and schoolwork sprinkled in. It sounds absolutely lovely.

Chapter 9 is titled, “Single Life – A Gift.” Honestly, I cannot truly relate to living life as a single woman. I was briefly single when I was widowed at the age of 22, but by age 24 I had remarried. My life has been lived as a woman who must consider her husband’s needs.

I love Elisabeth’s perspective on married and single life, though. Each is truly a gift given by God.

I too, have been perplexed by 1 Corinthians 7, and by how Paul writes that in his opinion, it is better to not marry, or remarry for that matter. This teaching seems to contradict God’s admonishment that it is not good for man to be alone, and that they should marry.

However, could it be that the Lord has a unique plan for everyone’s life, and for different seasons within one’s own life? This is definitely true. While a single person might serve the Lord differently while not needing to consider a spouse in their life decisions, a married couple has the opportunity to be the hands and feet of Christ each and every day as they serve each other and their families well.

I think it is important to consider our motives while deciding whether it is God’s will for us to be single or married. For example, it is not good for a single person to wish to remain so to meet their own selfish desires. Similarly, one shouldn’t wish to marry just to sit in the lap of luxury if their prospective spouse is wealthy. We must do our best to keep our motives focused on the Lord and His will for our lives.

Chapter 10 was short, but very timely for me. Elisabeth shares that our lives are ordered in steps, or stages, determined by God. We would do well to look at each stage as a gift from Him.

Elisabeth writes, ” The truth is that none of us knows the will of God for his life. I say for his life – for the promise is ‘as thou goest step by step I will open up the way before thee.’ He gives us enough light for today, enough strength for one day at a time, enough manna, our ‘daily’ bread. And the life of faith is a journey from Point A to Point B, from Point B to Point C as the people of Israel…” set out and encamped in many places.

Even while the people of Israel were complaining, God heard their cries. He knew His purpose for them and did not leave them.

We are God’s children too, ladies. He will not leave us or forsake us. We need to trust Him in each stage of our journey, whether we be married or single.

Each day and stage is a gift from Him. And we must remember what Elisabeth says at the end of the chapter, “It is today for which we are responsible. God still owns tomorrow.”

I hope that you are encouraged today. Let’s concentrate on where we are today, and ask the Lord to make His path clear to us.

If you’d like to follow along with us while we study Let Me Be a Woman, it can be purchased here.

This post contains affiliate links which provide my family a small commission at no cost to you.

Visit my children’s boutique here.