(My dad told me this story he heard from a church speaker.) There was a young lady who was unmarried. All of her friends were already married, some had children, but this woman was not willing to settle. After a while, her boyfriend proposed to her. However, she refused him. "I love you with all my heart, but you are not in a place with the Lord to be my spiritual leader" she told him tearfully. With tears in his own eyes, the man replied, "Give me one year. I will follow hard after the Lord and work to be the kind of leader you need. But, if after that time, if I'm still not in a place to lead you, we can part ways, and I will understand." After that, the man started going to a different church, lest he be tempted to fake spirituality in front of her, and began to strengthen his relationship with the Lord. In the end, the young lady accepted his proposal and married him at 28 years of age.
The few people I've told that story to have had similar reactions. They all teared up and with glowing, hopeful faces asked, "Is there someone out there like that for me?" Now, I am certainly no expert in the confusing realm of dating. I do not necessarily agree with the highly popular method of courtship, though I do find value in some of the methods, nor do I think you have "to kiss a lot of frogs". But, even a novice like me has observed a few things in my admittedly young quest to find "him whom my soul loves" (Song of Solomon 3:4).
"Faith in God includes faith in His timing." (-Neal Maxwell) I freely admit that whatever virtue I have does not include patience. I get antsy when meetings run a few minutes over and I huff at the mailbox when the letter I'm expecting hasn't arrived. One thing that has always tried my patience is the lack of a beau. Guess who never got a homecoming mum in high school? Me. Guess who never got flowers on Valentine's Day? Me. Guess who did not go to college and find boys lining up around the block only to be eclipsed by my shadow? That would be me. True, all these things are rather inconsequential and I don't lay awake nights fretting over them, but they do point toward something deeper: I'm not good/pretty/smart enough. Funnily enough, I constantly worry I'm not 'Christian' enough. Really, how can I expect to attract the kind of Christian man I want when I forget to do my quiet time or say a harsh word about someone? There's too much competition in that area and those girls seem waaaay more godly than me...but I digress. (I feel that merits a post of its own. More later!) At any rate, it seems a lot of my prayers consist of pleas for God to hurry His plan up.
"Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you by the gazelles and the does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires." Song of Solomon 2:7 If I were to sit back and reiterate to you how many times the Lord has saved me, I would never be able to finish. In the midst of my desire I constantly forget that the Lord has a plan that is perfect, and that my plans tend to blow up spectacularly. Do I have any reason to doubt the Lord? Of course not, but I think most readers would agree they've had this problem. They feel like the Lord has forgotten them or is withholding something from them. They look at other people's happiness with envious eyes. Dear friends, that is fruitless. All that type of thinking does is mire you in a slough of despond and turn you away from the path of righteousness. Think about it this way: would you rather have a cookie now? What if I told you that, with a little patience, you could not only have a cookie, but a cookie bouquet, complete with balloons and a gallon of milk? Many of us tend to fall into this trap of instant gratification, myself included.
Be encouraged. You are not alone in your quest. Though you may feel like nothing is even going to happen, it will when the time is right. After all "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father." (Matthew 10:29). The Lord knows the desires of your heart, perhaps you should simply sit quietly...and wait. I think will take my own advice, because I like the idea of many cookies much more than just one.
No comments:
Post a Comment