5 Signs God Is Hiding You from The One

Isaiah 26:12

Does it feel like God has hidden you? No matter what you try, do your efforts seem wasted?

While there are things God will require of us so we can meet the right person, sometimes it is true that God is hiding us from the person he wants us to marry. Why would he do this?

Here are 5 signs God is hiding you from the one.

1. If You Want a New Relationship to Heal You from a Past Wound, God Will Often Hide You

If you feel lonely, it’s natural to want a partner. If you feel abandoned, it makes sense for you to desire a loyal person. And if you are hurting, your heart will probably long for someone to make you feel better.

However, if we don’t find our healing in God first and foremost, going to a person for the healing we need will actually hurt our hearts more (Jonah 2:8). While a human relationship is a blessing from God (Genesis 2:18, Proverbs 18:22), it is not “the” blessing God knows that we need most.

Psalm 16:11, “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Without the love of God first, all other lovers will let us down. Only when we are connected to Christ as our hearts need most will we be able to enjoy another person in a balanced way.

2. God Will Often Hide You from The One to Teach You How to Identify This Person When the Right Time Comes

Sometimes you won’t know how to identify what you really want and need in a relationship unless you first learn what you don’t want and need. Unless the blinders are removed by the reality of relationships, we often carry with us false ideas that will block us from true love:

  • You may think you need a man who has a certain kind of job or makes a certain amount of money.
  • You may think you need a woman who has a certain physical look that you are particularly attracted to.
  • You may believe “the one” God has for you will have a certain spiritual gift so you two can serve God in a particular way that you imagined.

It’s possible, therefore, that God will let you meet people who have these very qualities you think you need to show you that some of your values are off.

When you are valuing the right things, it’s then that God often reveals you to the right person (Ruth 3:10, Proverbs 31:30).

3. God Will Often Hide You from The One When You Are Trying to Hide Something from This Person

In love, God won’t let us wear a mask to the person he wants us to partner with. When you are hiding certain parts of yourself because you fear this person will reject you, it’s impossible to experience the closeness God wants you and your future spouse to experience together.

Thus, sometimes, God will wait to make you visible to your future spouse until you are willing to shine the light on those areas you are trying to hide (1 John 1:5-6). Only when you repent of hidden sin, find your validation completely in the Lord, and are secure enough in Christ so you are able to be vulnerable in a relationship – only then will God be able to bless your future union.

4. God Will Hide You from The One If You Are Not Yet Willing to Participate in Being Joined to This Person

Yes, God is the one who brings a man and woman together (Mark 10:9). Yes, God has a good plan for your life and you need his blessing for anything to work properly (Jeremiah 29:11). And yes, no matter that you try, if God is not in it, you labor in vain (Psalm 127:1).

And yet, none of these biblical truths contradict the other biblical truth that God requires us to participate in his plan for our lives. As Isaiah 26:12 (NIV) states, “. . . all that we have accomplished you have done for us.” You have to do it and God has to do it for you. He is the one who deserves all the glory and he often uses us to bring him that glory.

Praying, hoping, and waiting are all very good things to do. However, if you are hiding yourself and not doing anything to participate in meeting the person God wants for you, usually God will keep hiding you until you choose to follow him in faith.

5. God May Hide You from The One for Reasons He Will Never Explain to You

God doesn’t promise to always explain everything to us. Rather, God has promised to do us good and not harm all the days of our lives if we choose to follow him in faith (Romans 8:32, Philippians 1:6).

Like Job who went through things that God never explained to him, so too will God do things in our lives that he will not fully explain to us. When he does this, he expects us to believe in his goodness and to keep trusting him even when we are confused. When you know God, you don’t need to know everything else.

He is trustworthy. When you believe that, he will lead you to where he wants you to go (Jude 1:24-25).