God Love You || Happy Valentine's

  

 

On the heels of another Valentine's Day, many sojourners become very disquieted in spirit. Feelings of loneliness seem more pronounced because of how holidays are celebrated so publicly and heavily commercialized. Emotions that remain managably quiet in the routines of everyday life are often stirred and brought to the surface.

We live in a world where the very awe and anticipation of each holiday season are quickly hollowed out by the arrival of the next. In recent years, it seems that before one celebration is fully passed, advertisements for the next are already filling store shelves, our online browsers, and inboxes. Because of this saturation, people do not have the opportunity to sit in the beauty and memory, and to be refreshed by these moments of pause in real and tangible ways. 

Instead, we are subtly pushed towards the next event, activity, or celebration.  Earlier generations often had clearer pauses between holidays,  but today these moments seem to blur together. Thanksgiving blends into Christmas, and Christmas into the New Year celebration, which, before the confetti is cleared, Valentine’s Day chocolates fill the shelves and the end carts on every aisle in our stores.  

Many Sojourners, especially those who are single, become deeply aware of their solitary journey. When I say single, I'm referring to women, both young or older: single by choice, by divorce, or by widowhood. Each may carry the pangs of being alone, whether by choice or circumstances.  

With caution, some married women feel alone in their marriages. Though not by status single, they feel unseen, uncherished, and not relentlessly pursued.  

At this point, it may be helpful to distinguish between two words that are often used interchangeably: alone" and " lonely.   

By definition, being alone is a physical state, whereas loneliness (lonely) is marked by sadness, emptiness, and a sense of disconnection.  Both are valid and real, and they can coexist as a sojourner's reality: a person may experience one without the other, or both at the same time.

Yet, the Scriptures remind us that neither has the final say over a believer's life. Through prayerful surrender, faithfulness to the scriptures, and the embrace of the joys of community, the believer learns to rest and trust in God's relentless love.  His relentless love becomes the foundational, primary companion to one's peace and thriving.

But the Lord's comfort to singles as they navigate being physically alone and, possibly, the sadness of loneliness is His grace of love. As we mature in faith, having a healthy understanding of who God is in the various seasons of life becomes the only victorious ground from which to fight the tyranny of the culture around us. 

It's from this flat-footed and sobering platform that we embrace the joy of knowing God's love and allow it to filter through, speaking reassuringly of his great and pursuing love for us.  Even when our physical state is one of being alone, and aloneness triggers the feeling of loneliness, ultimately, the believer is never abandoned.

The Scriptures remind us that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, as written in the Epistle to the Romans. The love of God is not seasonal, not dependent on human affection, and not confined to the romantic expressions that the culture celebrates so loudly every February.

Yes, the longing for companionship is real. From the beginning, in the Book of Genesis, God acknowledged that it was not good for man to be alone. The desire for partnership, friendship, and covenant love reflects something deeply human and deeply good. Yet the same Scriptures also remind us that our deepest identity and security are not rooted in whether we are married or single, but in the steadfast love of God that never fails.

For the sojourning woman of faith, Valentine's Day can become something different than what the culture advertises. Instead of a measuring stick for what we do or do not have, it can become a quiet reminder to return again to the well of God's unwavering love. It can be a moment to remember that the Lord sees every prayer, every waiting season, every quiet ache of the heart.

And while the world loudly celebrates romantic love for a single day, the believer rests in a love that is eternal, faithful, and unchanging.

So to the woman who finds herself physically alone this Valentine’s Day—whether by choice, circumstance, loss, or waiting—take heart. Your story is not overlooked, your prayers are not unheard, and your life is not incomplete.

You are known.

You are seen.

And you are relentlessly loved by the One whose affection never fades.

In that love, we find the truest companionship of all.

 

Scriptures for meditation:

Psalm 68:6 — God sets the lonely in families

Isaiah 54:5 — the Lord as husband

Romans 8:38–39 — inseparable love of God