“He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD.”
~Deuteronomy 8:3This is amazing! The LORD allowed the Israelites to be hungry, in order to teach them that physical bread was not the only thing they needed for survival. They learned that the LORD Himself was their deepest need.
I wonder if this is why the LORD keeps some people single longer than others. I'm not at all saying that those who marry sooner are somehow more spiritual than others, or that they have somehow learned this lesson faster than others. More than anything, I'm taking this to my own heart. I don't think that I would have learned that the LORD is all I need, had I married at a young age. I think for me this "hunger" has been the LORD's teaching me that physical marriage will not satisfy, and that He Himself is all I need.
It's true of any unfulfilled desire. The LORD is faithful to keep His children from loving anything more than we love Him. I think He sometimes makes us wait to see our desires fulfilled, in order to keep our eyes away from those things which by themselves are harmless, and to keep them fixed upon Himself.
(This may not be why a desire remains unmet. It's just one possibility out of many.)
