One way God will help you know when you’ve met your future spouse is by giving you both particular experiences together that form a bond that will last a lifetime.
Therefore, here are five experiences God will give you when you meet the person you will marry one day.
1. When God Leads You to Your Future Spouse, You Will Experience Unforced Momentum
The struggle of past relationships that did not work out will be used by God to confirm the right person to you. How? Because the resistance you felt in those relationship experiences will not be present when God puts you with the right person.
Sure, things will still be hard at times. You will not have a problem-free relationship with the person God has chosen for you. But, while there will be barriers to overcome together, the momentum you will experience together will not be forced. You won’t have to make the relationship work through sheer grit and determination.
Notice how Paul used this principle of momentum as a means of discovering what God’s will was for him. Acts 16:7-8 says, “And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas.” Now contrast that experience with what Paul states in 1 Corinthians 16:8-9, “But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.”
While Paul still had adversaries in Ephesus, he knew it was God’s will for him to stay there because he was having ministry momentum. Likewise, you will know you have met the right person when you both experience the God-given momentum that leads you towards marriage.
2. When God Leads You to Your Future Spouse, You Will Experience a Mutual Desire
What fuels the momentum that we discussed in the previous point? For the momentum to continue, it has to be mutual. When you experience resistance in a relationship, oftentimes it comes in the form of an unequally yoked desire for each other. One person may really want the other person, but if the feelings are not equal, the momentum always fades.
Again, we can see this principle in Paul’s ministry with the Ephesians. Not only did he have a heart to serve and love them, but they also had a heart for him too. Acts 20:37-38 states, “And there was much weeping on the part of all; they embraced Paul and kissed him, being sorrowful most of all because of the word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again.”
If you really want to be with someone but they are giving you mixed signals, that is not the type of experience that signifies you have met the person God has for you. Rather, like when God brought Eve to Adam, you both will be joyful about being with each other.
3. When God Leads You to Your Future Spouse, You Will Experience a Guilt-Free Connection
Some of you have never experienced the joy of being with someone that God was giving you the green light to be with. You have always felt a subtle but lingering guilt for being in a relationship with someone because deep down you knew it was not God’s will. This is not what God wants.
Notice how Paul’s conscience was free from guilt in his ministry with the Ephesians. Acts 20:26-27 states, “Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.”
When God is pairing you with the person he has planned for you to marry one day, you will not feel guilty about being with this person. Rather than the Spirit convicting you for running from God to this person, the Holy Spirit will convict you that it would be wrong to stay away from this person. In past relationships, you felt it was wrong to stay. When God is pairing you with the right person, you will feel it would be wrong to leave.
4. When God Leads You to Your Future Spouse, You Will Experience Surprising Acceptance
One experience that I can guarantee you will have is that your future spouse will not be exactly as you expected. Thus, you will have to be willing and able to accept them for who they actually are and not for who you imagined them to be.
As you get to know someone more and more, you both will learn things about each other that you didn’t know. Sometimes this knowledge will break you apart. You will realize the person you thought was your future spouse is nothing like you thought, and you will know you have to let them go.
But when they really are your future spouse, they will still be a lot different from what you expected, but you will have a surprising amount of acceptance, and they will have a surprising amount of acceptance for you too. You may find yourself saying, “I never thought I would want to be with a person like this, but I’m so grateful God has changed my heart.”
As Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen” (Ephesians 3:20-21).
5. When God Leads You to Your Future Spouse, You Will Experience His Pleasure
I don’t mean you will know you are with the right person because there will be no pain and everything will be perfect. Rather, I’m saying that God will mark this experience of meeting the right person by giving everyone involved pleasure. The man, the woman, and God will all be happy about this union. And as you walk with God, you will feel his pleasure with your decision to be with this person.
As Paul said in Ephesians 4:30, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” In love, the Holy Spirit will lead you away from what God doesn’t have for you by allowing you to sense his grief, and he will lead you towards God’s will by allowing you to sense his pleasure.
