Finding the Abundant Life – Chapter 7 🎤📖

Hello beautiful brides, my name is Adina in South Africa, and I want to share with you what I’ve learned from Finding the Abundant Life Chapter 7 “Longing for Whom?”

This chapter reminded me again of what we as women want, need and long for; we long for a man, an earthly husband. We think that finding a man will make us feel cherished, bring us happiness, will fulfil us, will give us the happy ever after we read about, saw in movies and dreamed about. As young girls we dream of our wedding day, the dress and the knight in shining armour we are going to marry someday. Not even the feminist movement or our desire to be strong independent career woman can cure or take away this longing we as women have for an earthly man.

Then, after we found what we so desperately wanted, we quickly find out that we are still unhappy, still unfulfilled and vulnerable to fall prey to pain, rejection, suffering and loneliness. Even when we are rejected, abandoned, or left for another woman, we desperately want to hold on and will do anything to get them back, thinking that getting them back will ease the pain and we will feel loved again.

But there is one real love that will fulfil us, make us feel cherished and secure. There is somebody that will never leave us, nor forsake us. There is one true love story that can be found in the Bible. Like the author explained it so beautifully:

“God created every woman to yearn for the kind of love that we read about as little girls— but it can NEVER be filled with human love. The kind of love we need could only be fulfilled with His love, the agape and unconditional love that He proved for us at Calvary. Nothing else will satisfy us, let alone make our hearts soar.”

We can all obtain this kind of unconditional love, feel cherished and secure, whether we are single, married, divorced or widowed, but we must turn our longing to our Creator, our Bridegroom. When we long for Him in the same way we long for a man and become His Bride, then we will be blessed like the opening verse of this chapter says:

"Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you,
And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you
For the LORD is a God of justice;
How blessed are all those who long for Him."

My beautiful brides, just like me and many others reached this place of being His bride, no longer longing for the love of an earthly man because we are filled with His unconditional love, and experience His peace and joy daily in our lifes, despite our circumstances and things we’ve went through, you can also reach this place of true love and peace that surpasses all understanding. He longs to be gracious to you and He waits to have compassion on you, just turn your longing to Him and be blessed. He is not far away up in Heaven, but right there with you, knocking, alluring you and waiting to speak kindly to you.