The Single Journey at Christmas

“Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair shall not go on forever.”

-Isaiah 9:1-

One of the most difficult times in a singles life can come during the holidays. I shared in my post, "10 things to pray for your single friend during the holiday season" that loneliness can feel more acute during this season. I remember a couple of years ago texting and sharingd with a dear friend how much I was struggling during at Christmas with being single. 

My heart knows that the Christmas season and celebration is about Jesus, but sometimes my head gets wrapped up in all of the “festivities” that I long to experience with someone. My prayer constantly is: "Lord, help me to remember that this holiday season isn’t about a TV movie and a relationship with a guy but about my relationship with you."

 On the other hand, while I struggle in this season, this season of advent is so powerful and hopeful to my life as a single woman. The word “advent” is defined as a “time of expectant waiting and preparation”. It is applicable to my life in so many ways and have shared about its special significance in my book, "When Light Dawns". I often feel that being single in this holiday season is like walking through a dark tunnel and that is why one of my favorite verses is from Isaiah 9: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.”

A light will dawn and just like this advent season is a expectant waiting and preparation, so is this season as a single lady. "If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently." (Romans 8:24-25) The longer we wait for something, the more joyful our expectancy and confident we can be. Since the fall we have waited and longed for a Redeemer. As I share in my upcoming book, "Prayers for the Single Journey" (releasing February 2023), I feel that many times I am wanting to be “saved from singleness” but no man can do that for me. Only Jesus is the Lord and Savior. 

As we wait in this single season let us trust that the Lord has a beautiful outcome, a miraculous story for our romantic lives. And just like those long ago, we will find hope in the truth that, even the dark tunnel we may feel we are in will not last forever. “Nevertheless, That time of darkness and despair shall not go on forever.” (Isaiah 9:1)