Woman Of Promise: Letters To The Single MotherSample

Day 1: Promise: God is with you. You are not alone.

Dear Single Mother,

As a former single mother, I write these letters to you with a message emblazoned on my heart by God: you are not alone in this.

I know you feel alone. You may feel abandoned, overwhelmed, and ill-equipped for the life of a single mother, but you are not alone on this journey. An Unseen Companion is with you, even now as you read this devotional. He has not forgotten or abandoned you, nor is He waiting for you to get it all together. He is with you. He hears each cry and whispered prayer. He watches over you and your children, and if you are willing, this Unseen Companion will help you build a strong home for your children.

I know because I’ve been there. 

When I was a single mother, I defined myself as profoundly alone. I woke up alone. Went to bed alone. Cared for my children alone. Cried alone. This loneliness skewed my perception of God’s presence because I unknowingly blamed Him for my feelings of isolation and abandonment. 

I felt forsaken by God and man and society. Forgotten. Cut off and abandoned. Like David in the Psalms, my prayers were reduced to exhausted one-liners. God, where ARE YOU in this? Why won’t you help me? Do you even see me? Hear me?

Thankfully, He answered my prayers through His Word.

It is within our nature as humans to align our perception of God’s presence with our current circumstances. In simplest terms, when things work in our favor, we feel God’s presence and blessing. When things become difficult, we assume He is distant and perhaps indifferent to our struggles. But this limited perception of His presence rarely aligns with the fullness of His truth. 

God remains GOD, no matter our circumstances. He is the Creator of heaven and earth. The Beginning and the End. Father to the fatherless and the Lover of our souls. Holy. Mighty. Sovereign. Perfect and transcendent in all of His ways. And though unseen, He remains eternally present. 

Take a deep breath and let this truth settle within your heart. 

God is near you. You are not alone. 

Believing with you,
Michelle Lynn Senters
“Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!" Luke 1:45 (NIV)