Whenever my greatest fears intrude upon my mind, I try to immediately think of the martyrs.
I recall to memory the stories of these Christians who were able to face horribly brutal torture and death with perfect peace, calm, confidence and even joy. And in remembering them I remind myself: God gave them the grace to be able to do that. He floated them through by supernatural help because there was no way they could have done it on their own. And then I look square in the face of my own dreaded fears and remind them that God's grace will be enough to carry me through.
No matter what we face, no matter how weak we are, God's grace and strength will be sufficient in our weakness.
If the thought of being single for life strikes terror into your heart, like it used to do to mine, I want to encourage you to do one thing.
Allow your mind to venture down the road of your "worst case scenario." Open every dark door and peer into every dark room. Take in all it's terror with human eyes, then look at it through spiritual eyes. You will find something there that you didn't see before. You will find the glorious, sustaining, sufficient grace of God - holding you up, and bringing you through, and giving you the joy of His fellowship.
Look at your greatest fear through the lens of God's promises to you. Look at it in light of God's strength, not your weakness. In light of His marvelous ability, not your great inability.
Choose to trust what Jesus promised:
He will never leave you
Nothing can separate you from His love
His grace will be enough for you
He will supply all your needs
He will make your trial a blessing
Look at your greatest fear through God's eyes, not yours.
If God said He would give you the empowering grace you need for every circumstance, then He will. If He promised that His strength will be made perfect in your weakness, then it will.
God can take you through your greatest fear, and bring you out on the other side shining like gold from the fire of His refinement, and glowing in the sweetness of His fellowship.
You don't have grace for being single at 85 yet because you're not single at 85 yet. But grace for today's singleness and every day after it is readily available to you if only you will ask.
"And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness." 2 Corinthians 12:9
(written when I had the gift of singleness)
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