A few years ago I led a young women’s Bible study class called the Hope Class. As the wife of a non-attender, I saw the need for this type of class, a support group as it were, for women like me – I needed encouragement and HOPE to help me in my journey as an unequally-yoked believer. As I looked around our small congregation, I realized that a number of other ladies in our church family were in the same situation. And so, the Hope class was born!

It was designed to meet the needs of, and offer encouragement (and HOPE) to, women who were “spiritually single.” We defined “spiritually single” as someone who attended church alone – either because she was unmarried or married to a non-believer or non-attender. Sometimes the wives of church leaders or ministers attended our class because their husbands were involved in their own ministry which did not include their wives. It made for a dynamic mix of personalities! Divorced, widowed, never-married, married to ministers, and unequally-yoked (Christian wife married to non-Christian husband) women gathered together to study God’s Word. We had sessions of laughter, tears, anger, fear, love, support, and hope based on the truth we found in scripture. Sometimes the truth hurt, but the class always provided a sense of belonging and community that we all needed.

Then I was forced to take a “leave of absence” while I battled cancer. The class continued for a while, but as is often the case, circumstances changed and the class disbanded. However, I continue to hold dear the memories of those ladies, wondering where they’ve all ended up and praying for them as the Lord brings them to mind. I’ve even considered trying to resurrect the class at church, but find myself in a season of life that prevents me from getting involved in activities outside of work and home. So every time I think about the Hope class, or spiritually single ladies, I wonder how I can offer Hope from my current situation.

Then, while reading my usual devotional booklet the other morning, I was reminded once again of the idea of ministering to the spiritually single. The reading that morning was from 1 Samuel 25. It was the story of David’s army being rebuffed by the evil Nabal, David’s determination to get even, and Abigail’s efforts to appease David and avert tragedy after her husband’s ill treatment of David and his men. As I read about Abigail, it hit me that this was a “spiritually single” woman!

How many more spiritually single women are recorded in scripture? And what can we learn from them? Is there a lesson here? DUH! Of course, it’s in the Bible, there’s got to be a lesson for us in each of their stories. And an idea for a new Hope class was born – an online class!

I’ve spent some time in the past couple of days checking out all the women listed in the Bible to see how many of them would qualify as spiritually single. It seems there are quite a few.

So I’ll devote the next several blog posts to those biblical ladies who have messages for us about how to live in today’s world as spiritually single. I’ll begin tomorrow with Abigail, since she’s the one who got my attention.

What challenges do you face as a spiritually single person? What help do you need? What hope can we offer you?
Although being spiritually single can feel lonely, we are never alone, because we are always …

In His Presence,
bb