When we first started dating, I left for college. We were separated by thousands of miles. This was in a time before social media.
The internet was a new thing, and we did have e-mail. But most of our correspondence was done by long-distance phone calls.
These were very expensive. There are bible verses for every difficulty we face in life including long-distance relationships.
The Holy Spirit will help us when we stop relying on our own understanding and trust God to help us. True love will overcome the hard times.
When we do things our own way things can be difficult, however when we follow the will of God in our relationships then he will bless us.
There are Bible verses that can help you as you handle being far away from your loved one.
Genesis 31:49 God will take care of our loved ones.
“And Mizpah, for he said, “The Lord watch between you and me when we are out of one another's sight.””
This is a great verse to send to someone when you are apart from them. You can not be there to take care of them, but you are praying that God will be with them and take care of them.
This is what makes it different for Christians in long-distance relationships than for non-believers.
We have the hope of knowing the one who loves our loved one even more than we do will take care of them.
During the time when we are apart from our loved ones, we have to trust in God.
And when we are able to be reunited, we can thank God for caring for our loved one while we were unable to. What a blessing we have in knowing God cares for us.
Genesis 2:18 God created us to be in a family.
“Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.””
When we are separated from our loved ones there is a reason that we are miserable. God did not plan on us being alone.
God designed us to be together as a family. But there are times when we have to be separated.
For me, it was when we were in two different universities in two different countries. One of us in Canada and one of us in the USA. But God meant for it only to be a short time.
Once we were married, we knew we were living the way God planned. We started a family. We were together as God intended.
Proverbs 13:12: Being homesick is a real thing.
“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.”
I think the Bible has the best long-distance relationship quotes. This is one I heard often during our time separated.
I think I had this verse quoted to me by every family member. The Love of my life was in a different country. He was my best friend. There were times I felt so sad I felt physically sick.
I think this is where the term homesickness comes from. However, in good order, we came to understand that the time we spent apart helped us.
The foundation of our relationship was built on good communication. Why we were experiencing physical distance we did grow closer in our relationship.
Eventually, we were reconnected, and engaged shortly after. But there have been times when we were apart for short periods of time.
I am in full-time ministry and for a few years I worked in camp ministries. I would be gone during the week and home only on weekends.
This was for five weeks at a time during the summer. But during the summer when we were away from each other, I did feel homesick and missed my husband.
That made our weekends together that much better. Those times when were reunited were so wonderful.
Psalm 34:18: God wants us to encourage our friends who are separated from their loved ones.
“The Lord is near to those who are discouraged; he saves those who have lost all hope.”
One of my friends is married to a soldier. That means she spends a lot of time apart from her husband. There were times when she felt very discouraged.
As a friend I wanted to make sure that she did not lose hope. That meant sharing verses of encouragement with her.
The best way to encourage her was to remind her of the God of all comfort. I would remind her that she had a husband who loved her.
That the heart of the husband trusts and loves her. During times of discouragement and the loss of hope, God will strengthen our hearts.
This is why God wants us to help our loved ones and pray with them. During times of sadness, it is the strength of our friends that can carry us through the hard times.
Friendships are God’s wonderful gift to us. Our friends can help us as we are separated from our loved ones.
I am thankful that I can be the friend God wants me to be. I am also thankful that God sent me the friends I needed when I was lonely.
Philippians 1:3 We can choose thankfulness over loneliness.
“I thank my God in all my remembrance of you.”
When I spent time apart from the person I loved, there were times I would think I saw them. I would see a car that looked like the car we would drive together.
I would hear a laugh that sounded familiar. I would have something happen and then I would think I have to tell them… then I would remember we were separated by a border.
Today that would be different. Because your loved one is just a text away. But we didn’t have text messages.
I didn’t even have a cell phone. But whenever I had those moments when I would think of the person I loved, I would choose not to be sad.
I would thank God every time I had a memory. This is a great way to keep our loved ones close to our hearts, and always thank God for the blessing of our loved ones.
Being lonely is the hardest thing we can go through. When we are feeling alone and sad, we can change our viewpoint by choosing instead to be thankful for our loved ones.
Feeling thankful is a wonderful feeling. This is a much better feeling than being lonely.
1 John 4:18: Our love will drive away the fears of a long-distance relationship.
“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”
When we can not see our loved ones every day that can lead to fear. Satan brings that fear. He is a god of all flesh. We have to refuse to listen to that fear.
The good advice that I will share is that when we walk in the fear of the Lord and trust his righteous hands to keep us pure and safe, then the fear Satan sends our way will leave us.
With God’s help, we can live a life free from fear. I am a firm believer that a lack of trust in each other is the downfall of every relationship.
There are so many things in a relationship that will cause us to worry when we are far away from the person we love.
But finding comfort in our love for each other, and in knowing that we are close friends first will help cast out that fear.
As a friend it is my responsibility to help them have faith with their faith is gone.
Hebrews 11:1 Faith is the most important thing in a relationship.
“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”
What does it mean to have faith in the person we love? The firmness of your faith is that we trust in God even though we can not see him.
We have this same faith in the person we love when they are far away. Human beings naturally trust only what they can see.
The best gift we can give the person we love is to trust them. However, we must also be trustworthy. The right person will trust us and be trustworthy.
Healthy relationships are built on trust. This is something we can never forget. Being in a long-distance relationship is a great way to build a relationship of trust.
Once you are reunited your relationship will be a healthy one. How do we trust someone? We have faith in others when we trust what we can not see.
When our actions align with our words then our loved ones will know they can trust us. So have faith in your loved ones.
Faith is having confidence in what we hope for. Faith is being assured when we can not see the other person.
Colossians 2:5: We will be with our loved ones in spirit while we are apart.
“For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.”
This verse comes from a letter written by Paul. While this is not romantic love, Paul was apart from the church and his church family.
They were his beloved brothers. Their love was agape love. The Lord God bonds us in a love that is very special.
I remember when I was a teenager and I left for the summer to work at a Christian camp. While I was away, I thought about my family. But every Sunday I would think about my church family.
I was so excited when I was able to return and see my church family. This is how I imagine Paul felt when he was writing Colossians.
Perhaps you are away from the one you love in a romantic relationship, or perhaps you are separated from a person you love in a friendship or family relationship.
But we can tell the people we are missing that we are with them in spirit if we can not physically be with them. While we are apart, we can pray for them and love them. The Holy Spirit will
Romans 8:25: We can wait patiently.
“But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.”
This Bible verse is a great way to encourage those who are in distance relationships. We have to be patient as we wait to see the person we hope for.
Our heart’s desire is to be with the person we love. In a relationship, we will go through tough times.
But when we put our hope in the steadfast love of the Lord, we will find the patience we need. This would be a great verse to send to the person you love that you are separated from.
Remind them to be patient the way you are being patient. If God’s timing, you will be together again. This verse will give us endurance and help us know we can persevere.
Psalm 147:3: God loves the broken-hearted
“He heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds.”
Christian dating is hard but one of the hardest things is being separated from the person we love. God knows we are in pain.
He knows we are broken-hearted. But in our pain, we can trust in God and know that he loves us and will care for us, no matter what pain we are feeling.
When I was in a long-distance relationship there were times when I was so lonely, I thought my heart would break.
But those are the times when we can lean on God the most. He is closer to us when we feel the most broken. He will bind up our wounds and make us feel whole again.
Genesis 29:20: If Jacob waited fourteen years you will survive your time apart.
“So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her.”
This story from the Old Testament is one of my favorite Bible stories. Jacob worked for seven years to marry Rachel.
Then the day of his wedding he was tricked into marrying her sister. He then had to work an extra seven years before he could marry Rachel.
That means he worked fourteen years in order to marry the love of his life. I can’t image what it would feel like to work fourteen years before you could marry someone.
When we were separated it was one for the School year. That was the longest year of my life. But fourteen years that seems impossible.
Whatever you are going through, know that at least you don’t have to wait as long as Jacon did.
Romans 8:18 and 24-25: We can hope for the ultimate reunion in heaven.
“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed in us.” “…Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”
The last and most important lesson to be learned from a long-distance relationship is the picture it paints of our relationship with God the father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
When Christ Jesus left this earth, he promised that he would return.
We would have to suffer at this present time, but there will come a time when we will be reunited with the Father of mercies, Jesus Christ. Our righteous Saviour will return.
