Hebrews 13:20-21
Is it possible to meet the right person that God wants you to be with but to meet this person at the wrong time?
When I use the phrase “the one,” all I mean is that this person is the man or woman God wants you to marry one day. If you never end up marrying that person, that person was not “the one” God has for you.
With that said, I do believe it is still possible to meet the one at a point in your life that complicates your relationship. When that happens, here are 4 things God could do.
1. If You Meet the Right One at the Wrong Time, God Will Use This as Evidence that He Truly Is the One Putting You Two Together and It’s Not Just Your Own Doing
There is a general principle found in Scripture that God does not call the equipped but rather God equips the called.
In other words, God will not call you to accomplish tasks you are able to accomplish in your own power. Rather, God will call you to do what he wants and then he will equip you to do it. Notice how this principle is expressed in Hebrews 13:20-21. It reads:
Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”
Our salvation is completely dependent on Jesus alone. We can do nothing to be saved but rely on God’s grace. But once we are saved, God puts his Spirit in us to “equip you with everything good that you may do his will.”
When we apply this truth to pursuing a Christian marriage for the glory of God, this means that if God wants you with someone he will empower you both to be together even if you meet each other at a point in life that is complicated and full of trials.
When you two are able to push through the trial of bad timing and still honor the Lord together, you will know this is being done “through Jesus Christ” because you will know you could never do this on your own if it was just your own desire rather than God really being the one putting you two together.
2. If You Meet the Right One at the Wrong Time, God Will Use This Trial as a Part of Your Love Story
Everyone wants to experience an amazing love story written by the very hand of God. But so few of us are willing to go through the trials and hardships God requires to create a story worth telling.
Through everything that happens in life, God wants the glory. This principle does not change when it comes to relationships. If God is calling you to be with someone, God is ultimately doing this to bring glory to himself. But to bring glory to himself, God often needs to set the stage to make it impossible for anyone to give glory to anyone besides him.
When you meet the one God has for you, sometimes he will reveal this person to you at what seems like the worst time possible. But he does this so that when you are old and retelling the story of how God put you two together, everyone will know that God deserves all the glory for your love story.
As Psalm 115:1 states, “Not to us, Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness.”
3. If You Meet the Right One at the Wrong Time, God Can Empower You to Be Together Anyways
To say it bluntly, if you meet the right person God wants for you but you just met this person at the wrong time, it doesn’t matter. God will still put you two together if you really are meant to be together.
God is the author of time. Before he chose to enter into time and space he existed “sans time,” meaning without time. My point is God’s will is not governed by man’s timing. God’s will governs man’s timing. I can’t fully explain how God’s sovereign will is accomplished through the free choices of earthly people. No one can. But that doesn’t mean God isn’t still able to do what he wants, when he wants, while still incorporating the free choices of people.
So if you meet the right one at the wrong time, God will accomplish his will for you because his will for you was set before the beginning of time. As Ephesians 1:11 states:
In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.”
4. If You Meet the Right One at the Wrong Time, God Could Bring You Back Together at a Later Point
While God can cause you two to overcome bad timing and relationship issues, another possibility is that you two will be together one day but just not right now. This happens less often but it still does happen. Sometimes two people meet, have chemistry, but the timing is just off; so God then puts them back together later on when the timing is right. Notice how Paul’s ministry was affected by timing. Romans 15:22-24 says:
This is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you. But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you, I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while.”
In much the same way, life and relationships are messy. Sometimes the timing is just not right but it will be right later.
If You Two Never Get Together, This Person Was Not the Right One for You
In closing, I want to caution you not to cling to this hope that someone is the right one but it’s just the wrong time. While it is possible God will put you together at a later point, if you two never do get together this is not a sign that you missed God’s will or that this was the one God wanted you to marry but you missed your chance.
Again, when I use the phrase, “the one,” I’m referring to that person God has sovereignly ordained you to marry one day. We cannot defy the sovereign plan of God. Therefore, if you two never do end up together, this was just not the person God wanted you with.
Trust his plan. In his sovereignty, he knows how to do what is best for you and what will also bring himself maximum glory through you.
