God Was Preparing Someone Special (Part I)

God told me twice not to worry about my marriage. The first time was before I became a Christian.

During my early 20s, I spent a lot of time partying and clubbing. I felt like I had to go because all my friends went clubbing and if I didn’t, there wouldn’t be anyone to hang out with. I was trying to figure out who I was. I enjoyed dancing, being with my friends, and I met many people, but deep down I didn’t want the clubbing life— it felt very empty.

I struggled with dating and my roommate tried giving me all these dating tips; she would bring me a book and tell me, “Susan, you’ve got to read this! This book is the Bible of dating”. I tried this, I tried that, but nothing seemed to work. I vividly remember one time when two of my well-intentioned friends had a discussion over the topic “why Susan doesn’t have a boyfriend”. One argued that it was because of my weight while another argued it was because of my acne. Sitting there listening to their discussion made me sad at first, but then I realized that if the “problem” of my singleness was simply because of my physical appearance, then I guess it wasn’t as bad as if there was something fundamentally wrong with me. I thought to myself, I could change those issues if I wanted to.

In 2009  came a low point. I felt very desperate and lost— I was worried about my sister, who was pregnant with twins and experiencing some health complications, and I was worried because I still didn’t have a boyfriend. I needed help! Since I was a devoted Buddhist at the time, I went to a temple in Taiwan to pray and ask Buddha for an answer. The interpreter of the fortune stick I received basically told me, “I don’t know why you are asking about a boyfriend. Your fortune shows you already have a very blessed love life.” Clearly this “answer” made no sense to me and I left feeling confused and discouraged.

A week later, I was back in the Los Angeles and a Christian friend invited me to go to church with her. I was very resistant, but I ended up going anyways. After the service ended, my friend introduced me to her best friend who happened to be sitting behind me during the service. Her friend immediately told my friend they had to talk and they just walked off, leaving me standing there by myself in the middle of this big, unfamiliar church. I felt so awkward and I had no idea what was going on!

A few minutes later the two of them came back and my friend was smiling so big. What is going on? I wondered. My friend told me that her friend had something very important to tell me. Her friend, whom I had never met before that day, told me that when she was praying at the end of the service, she saw Jesus pointing at me and prompting her to tell me two things. “The first thing is about your family.” She said, “Don’t worry about your family, they will be fine. The second thing is about your marriage. Don’t worry, God will reserve a man for you.”

Wow. I was speechless. I was so amazed that I just couldn’t stop crying. These were the exact two things I had desperately prayed about at the temple just one week earlier! At the time, I didn’t know who God was. Was God Buddha? Or Jesus? I wasn’t sure but I was absolutely certain there was a God and He answered my prayers.

Susan H
Passionate Social Worker/ Psychotherapist in NYC
https://www.susanchunglcsw.com/