THIS WEEK I am swamped. It's the week before spring break, and I have a lot of work to do in very little time. A major project is due the same day as a test in a class that only has about three grades in the semester. And I went home yesterday for my sister's birthday party, so I don't have a lot of time.
I don't want to do my work. I want to go home early and sleep. But I have to do this, because this is what God has given me to be responsible for. My school work is my job. Do you ever feel like there is simply too much for you to handle? If you do, that's good. It means you have the chance to learn something from God.
The whole point of the gospel, the Good News, is God's grace - how His love for us, His giving His Son for us, enables us to love Him back and to love the other people He loves. The whole point of grace is that it isn't our doing. I've been seeing this all week as I've read through Romans, and Pastor Mike talked about it this morning. God wants us to rely on Him, for everything.
Paul spells it out in Ephesians 2:8-9. "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast."
Nearly very religion in the world focuses on us: what can we do, be, say, eat, refrain from, give, in order to be nearer to the divine or to gain merit for ourselves? The difference about grace is that God came to us because we couldn't be good enough to get to Him. But you see, He made sure that there is no way that we, understanding the meaning of His grace, could also pride ourselves on having earned salvation in any sense. He designed salvation so that it is totally reliant on Him, and all we have to do is let Him save us and follow Him. It's very simple, but it is very difficult for us to accept.
We say, "God, are You sure? Can I help pay for this?" And He says He has paid it all. There was no greater price to pay, and He spared no expense to reach toward us in love.
We don't always want to accept the gift as free. We want to feel like we did something to get ourselves to the top. But we can't - not with this God who wants to show us His faithfulness through our helplessness. When we have been saved for a while, often we need to be reminded that we are no less helpless than we have ever been. I feel like moments like these, when all I can do to help my situation is pray and obey, are meant to help us give ourselves to God further.
God wants us to rely on Him for our salvation, for the words to communicate our faith, for guidance in our relationships, even for time management. As students, my friends and I make time management a standing prayer request. It's not because we are stressed out and need to make ourselves feel better by praying. It's because we know that if we bring anything to God and lay it at His feet, He will honor that and guide us in our concerns. He is our Father and He wants to help us.
But if we rely on ourselves, where do we get? We don't get close to God. We could get selfish and proud, or when we fail we could become disillusioned and lonely. We could make all our dreams come true and find that something is missing, or we could lose all our dreams and be full of bitterness. Or we could even wear ourselves thin in body and soul, getting anxious trying to carry all the weight, not thinking our problems are worth God's time, while He continually says to lay our burdens on Him.
Jesus urges us to place our trust in Him in Matthew 11:28-30, saying "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
That's what I'm going to do with this week. I know having a lot to do and not very much time is not the worst problem to have. God knows it too. But it doesn't mean He doesn't care. I've heard of and experienced Him answering prayers over anything from cancer to a missing contact. The responsibilities of this week are too big for me to manage by myself, but God is bigger.
1 Peter 5:6-7 "Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you."
We will be truly strong, even unstoppable, if we realize that God is the sole source of our strength and humble ourselves before Him.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Sunday, February 19, 2012
The How
THIS WEEK I had a bit of a revelation.
You see, reading David Platt's book Radical really reminded me that witnessing is not just an optional thing that some Christians are good at - it's something we've all been commanded to do in some way. It will look different for everybody depending on our situations, but we're supposed share. And it shouldn't be that hard, right? We know the gospel and how God saves. We know about Jesus and the promises of God. If He has saved us, He can save anybody! Leading our friends to Christ couldn't be that complicated. It should even be hard not to do it.
If you're like me, you find witnessing to be harder than it should be. Personally, I don't struggle with the Why or the What and much as the How. I'm afraid I'll get it wrong and just get in the way, or say something that makes somebody hate Christians forever. I'm not as much afraid that people won't like me as that I won't know how to do it, or when, or who to talk to. Meanwhile everything inside of me wishes I could tell my entire campus, or even just my studio full of classmates. People are dying without Him, and I want to be part of God's plan to give His life to them.
Well this week I learned something that I think will make things a bit easier. I went out to do my Bible study and told God that I just didn't know what to read, and I asked Him to show me something. Somehow I felt like I should read Acts 4. So I did, the chapter where John and Peter have been arrested for the ruckus caused when they healed an old beggar who couldn't walk. Peter was declaring that the miracle had been done by the power of Jesus' name. I've read it before. One thing stood out to me though, in verses 13-14:
"Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus. And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it."
Do you see it? They were uneducated and untrained. But they spoke with boldness. It is precisely because they were not brilliant and well-trained that this miracle could give such glory to God. Because they could do these things and speak this way, it was clear to the officials that they had been with Jesus. They didn't need to know HOW. They just needed to know HIM.
That changes things! It turns out we don't need a 5-point foolproof plan for effectively sharing the gospel. We don't need to be Bible college graduates who know the Greek backward and forward. Who could be a better expert than Jesus to tell us, through His Spirit, how to obey Him? He is the One who does the saving anyway. He told us to go make disciples and baptize them. There's a reason He didn't say to get better at it first. He wants us to trust in Him and not in ourselves.
If we really know Him, His heart, it will become easier to witness and make disciples because we won't be worried about messing it up. We won't be stopped by not knowing how, because the spread of the gospel doesn't depend on our expertise but on our obedience. God wants to work with our imprecision to show His power. He just wants us to obey and share, and He will work on the hearts. Not everybody will be saved, and we will make mistakes, but nothing should stop us from being obedient.
This week for the first time I heard a Jimmy Needham song called "Come Around." Here are some of my favorite lyrics from it:
"We pass out paper facts all week but they won't come around. Apologetic reasoning, but they won't come around, come around. There's only one way they'll come and it's love!" And "Passionate words and beautiful phrases, they just don't mean much if I don't have Jesus in it."
We will never lead anyone to Christ by persuasion. Christ isn't focused on making sense to people. That's not His point. We will lead people to Him with the love He came to extend, the love that lives in us and drives us. Speak in grace AND truth. We aren't here to debate and argue. We're here to aid in reconciliation.
The number of people being born again is rising, and is growing faster now than at any time in history. It's not because every Christian is suddenly a perfect, preaching, gospel-sharing machine. It's because the love of Jesus is alive in people who have experienced the salvation that only He can offer, and take His command to share seriously. Jesus promises that He will help us through His Holy Spirit to understand what we need to do. And we can find out from His word what His will is. If we are stopped by not knowing how to do it, that's putting little faith in God's power and too much emphasis on ourselves.
1 Corinthians 13:1 "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal."
This week I started being discipled by my friend Debbie. It means that as an older Christian she's going to give me guidance and share with me the lessons she's learned. She asked me to write down my testimony and share it with her. I can't say how refreshing it was to just think and talk about the story of my salvation for a little while, and remember how active God has been in my life. I learned that few things can be as effective a tool in witnessing as being able to tell people what you yourself have witnessed. If we can share what He has done in us, other people can see what He could do in them. We will win them not with our fancy words but with how the new in His word has proven true in us.
HOW do we witness? HOW do we go about doing this right? That's what I'm working on right now. We don't wait around for "low-hanging fruit" and obvious opportunities. I'll bring myself to quote a decade-old Hilary Duff song, "Why Not" : "There may never be a sign, no flashing neon lights, telling you to make your move, or when the time is right. So why not take a crazy chance?" The song's not about witnessing, but the principle applies. Let's be as generous in sharing the love of God as He has been in giving it to the world. Let's go so far as to pray what the early church prayed after Peter and John were set free (Acts 4:29-31)
"'Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.' And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness."
That can be us now. Apart from Him we can do nothing. Jesus is How.
You see, reading David Platt's book Radical really reminded me that witnessing is not just an optional thing that some Christians are good at - it's something we've all been commanded to do in some way. It will look different for everybody depending on our situations, but we're supposed share. And it shouldn't be that hard, right? We know the gospel and how God saves. We know about Jesus and the promises of God. If He has saved us, He can save anybody! Leading our friends to Christ couldn't be that complicated. It should even be hard not to do it.
If you're like me, you find witnessing to be harder than it should be. Personally, I don't struggle with the Why or the What and much as the How. I'm afraid I'll get it wrong and just get in the way, or say something that makes somebody hate Christians forever. I'm not as much afraid that people won't like me as that I won't know how to do it, or when, or who to talk to. Meanwhile everything inside of me wishes I could tell my entire campus, or even just my studio full of classmates. People are dying without Him, and I want to be part of God's plan to give His life to them.
Well this week I learned something that I think will make things a bit easier. I went out to do my Bible study and told God that I just didn't know what to read, and I asked Him to show me something. Somehow I felt like I should read Acts 4. So I did, the chapter where John and Peter have been arrested for the ruckus caused when they healed an old beggar who couldn't walk. Peter was declaring that the miracle had been done by the power of Jesus' name. I've read it before. One thing stood out to me though, in verses 13-14:
"Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus. And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it."
Do you see it? They were uneducated and untrained. But they spoke with boldness. It is precisely because they were not brilliant and well-trained that this miracle could give such glory to God. Because they could do these things and speak this way, it was clear to the officials that they had been with Jesus. They didn't need to know HOW. They just needed to know HIM.
That changes things! It turns out we don't need a 5-point foolproof plan for effectively sharing the gospel. We don't need to be Bible college graduates who know the Greek backward and forward. Who could be a better expert than Jesus to tell us, through His Spirit, how to obey Him? He is the One who does the saving anyway. He told us to go make disciples and baptize them. There's a reason He didn't say to get better at it first. He wants us to trust in Him and not in ourselves.
If we really know Him, His heart, it will become easier to witness and make disciples because we won't be worried about messing it up. We won't be stopped by not knowing how, because the spread of the gospel doesn't depend on our expertise but on our obedience. God wants to work with our imprecision to show His power. He just wants us to obey and share, and He will work on the hearts. Not everybody will be saved, and we will make mistakes, but nothing should stop us from being obedient.
This week for the first time I heard a Jimmy Needham song called "Come Around." Here are some of my favorite lyrics from it:
"We pass out paper facts all week but they won't come around. Apologetic reasoning, but they won't come around, come around. There's only one way they'll come and it's love!" And "Passionate words and beautiful phrases, they just don't mean much if I don't have Jesus in it."
We will never lead anyone to Christ by persuasion. Christ isn't focused on making sense to people. That's not His point. We will lead people to Him with the love He came to extend, the love that lives in us and drives us. Speak in grace AND truth. We aren't here to debate and argue. We're here to aid in reconciliation.
The number of people being born again is rising, and is growing faster now than at any time in history. It's not because every Christian is suddenly a perfect, preaching, gospel-sharing machine. It's because the love of Jesus is alive in people who have experienced the salvation that only He can offer, and take His command to share seriously. Jesus promises that He will help us through His Holy Spirit to understand what we need to do. And we can find out from His word what His will is. If we are stopped by not knowing how to do it, that's putting little faith in God's power and too much emphasis on ourselves.
1 Corinthians 13:1 "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal."
This week I started being discipled by my friend Debbie. It means that as an older Christian she's going to give me guidance and share with me the lessons she's learned. She asked me to write down my testimony and share it with her. I can't say how refreshing it was to just think and talk about the story of my salvation for a little while, and remember how active God has been in my life. I learned that few things can be as effective a tool in witnessing as being able to tell people what you yourself have witnessed. If we can share what He has done in us, other people can see what He could do in them. We will win them not with our fancy words but with how the new in His word has proven true in us.
HOW do we witness? HOW do we go about doing this right? That's what I'm working on right now. We don't wait around for "low-hanging fruit" and obvious opportunities. I'll bring myself to quote a decade-old Hilary Duff song, "Why Not" : "There may never be a sign, no flashing neon lights, telling you to make your move, or when the time is right. So why not take a crazy chance?" The song's not about witnessing, but the principle applies. Let's be as generous in sharing the love of God as He has been in giving it to the world. Let's go so far as to pray what the early church prayed after Peter and John were set free (Acts 4:29-31)
"'Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.' And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness."
That can be us now. Apart from Him we can do nothing. Jesus is How.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Hearts and Much Love
THIS WEEK we are getting ready to celebrate St. Valentine's Day. Another recently popular name for it is "Singles Awareness Day." It's a whole day dedicated to romance, or, in many cases, a reminder of the lack thereof.
I have been asked this week whether I have a Valentine. Nope.
I am okay with this. I'm going to get chocolate anyway. I'll wear my shirt that has a big heart made of the words of Colossians 3:14. I'll give my roommate her present. It will be a fun day. But I think one important thing that makes Valentine's Day good for me is that it reminds me that I'm living forever with the greatest romantic of all time, and that's God.
It could be odd to think about. God as romantic. A lot of the time we don't picture Him that way. If we know Him we could think of Him as a Father and a King, and that He truly is. If we don't know Him He might seem like a cosmic rulemaker or an imaginary friend. What's romantic about God exactly?
A look into His word can show us how full of passionate love God is. I was looking there this week, and I was caught off guard by just how good He is. I mean, I knew He is overwhelmingly loving and kind and just and merciful, but I stumbled upon a couple of things that expanded my understanding of how that looks.
First I found Ezekiel 16. I don't even remember how I found it. I was just trying to find something to learn from. And I saw this long, nasty story from God's point of view, comparing Israel to an unfaithful wife. He made a covenant with her, and gave her wonderful things, and took good care of her. It was the best situation a wife could ask for and more. But she cheated on him with other men - the gods and ways of other nations - and used all the blessings He'd showered on her to sin against Him. To God, idolatry is the same as adultery because He is jealous for our hearts.
God begins to mention things He could do to this treacherous girl. She could be humiliated and stoned and cut to pieces! He has the right, doesn't He? A husband has the right to get revenge on a cheating wife, a woman who dishonors him in every imaginable way. He could strike her down in her shame, and he should! Shouldn't he?
v.59 "For thus says the Lord God: 'I will deal with you as you have done, who despised the oath by breaking the covenant.'"
Reading the end of the chapter, I saw that's not what God does. He gets even greater revenge on that girl. It's really hard to deal with. Look:
v.62-63 "'And I will establish My covenant with you. Then you shall know that I am the Lord, that you may remember and be ashamed, and never open your mouth anymore because of your shame, when I provide you an atonement for all you have done,' says the Lord God."
How could God do that? That's tremendous. Imagine giving all your love to that person you care for, pouring gifts and tenderness and friendship on him/her, and watching that same lover turn around and cheat on you with everyone and give away your gifts. Could you still love him? Could you forgive her? Could you even contemplate renewing the promise he broke? If you could, you'd get the sweetest revenge of all: forgiveness. Mercy is romantic.
Proverbs 25:21-22 "If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink; for so you will heap coals of fire on his head, and the Lord will reward you."
In Hosea 11 God is talking about Israel's unfaithfulness again. His response of faithfulness blows me away.
v.6-7 "And the sword shall slash in his cities, devour his districts, and consume them, because of their own counsels. My people are bent on backsliding from Me. Though they call to the Most High, none at all exalt Him."
Wait for it!
v. 8-9 "How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I set you like Zeboiim? My heart churns within Me; My sympathy is stirred. I will not exercise the fierceness of My anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim. For I am God, and not man, the Holy One in your midst; and I will not come with terror."
Is your heart melting yet? HOW COULD I EVER LET YOU GO? Look at this. Have you ever loved someone so tenderly that no matter how much you hate him for the evil things he has done to you, you just won't give him up? Why does God do this? Is He a pushover? Is He giving in to the influence of Israel's sad puppy dog face? I don't think that's it. I think God's love, and His hope that one day His love will return, makes Him reluctant to act on His great anger. He shows mercy instead, showing that His love really is the greatest of all. I think He wants to use a tragedy as an opportunity to show the height of His faithfulness to anyone who loves Him. He is the most magnificent lover of all time.
He is still going to punish people, but He doesn't wipe people out without cause. He is still justified in letting us have what we deserve for sin, but He is gracious in giving us what we don't.
I'd have to say that Jesus is my Valentine. He says "Here, have my life." And we say "Thank You! Have my heart." One of the reasons God was so persistent about Israel was that He had this plan to use them to raise up a Savior for the world, to expand His kingdom as a New Jerusalem full of all kinds of people. It's not like this world is a lovely, sweet thing, but He sees what we can be and loves us. He sees we need redemption and dies to give us His righteousness. He would call that group of people the Bride of Christ. Is there anything more romantic than that? A real live forever love. A true, unbreakable, unlimited love. The kind we sing about and wish would happen. The kind that floats in the air on Valentine's Day.
His sacrifice is the biggest way anyone has ever said "I LOVE YOU!" And He will chase us down to the ends of the earth if we take a single step toward Him. He won't make us love him, but He won't give up on trying to save us from ourselves. he wants the glory and our good. And He will give us every chance to say "I LOVE YOU TOO!"
I have been asked this week whether I have a Valentine. Nope.
I am okay with this. I'm going to get chocolate anyway. I'll wear my shirt that has a big heart made of the words of Colossians 3:14. I'll give my roommate her present. It will be a fun day. But I think one important thing that makes Valentine's Day good for me is that it reminds me that I'm living forever with the greatest romantic of all time, and that's God.
It could be odd to think about. God as romantic. A lot of the time we don't picture Him that way. If we know Him we could think of Him as a Father and a King, and that He truly is. If we don't know Him He might seem like a cosmic rulemaker or an imaginary friend. What's romantic about God exactly?
A look into His word can show us how full of passionate love God is. I was looking there this week, and I was caught off guard by just how good He is. I mean, I knew He is overwhelmingly loving and kind and just and merciful, but I stumbled upon a couple of things that expanded my understanding of how that looks.
First I found Ezekiel 16. I don't even remember how I found it. I was just trying to find something to learn from. And I saw this long, nasty story from God's point of view, comparing Israel to an unfaithful wife. He made a covenant with her, and gave her wonderful things, and took good care of her. It was the best situation a wife could ask for and more. But she cheated on him with other men - the gods and ways of other nations - and used all the blessings He'd showered on her to sin against Him. To God, idolatry is the same as adultery because He is jealous for our hearts.
God begins to mention things He could do to this treacherous girl. She could be humiliated and stoned and cut to pieces! He has the right, doesn't He? A husband has the right to get revenge on a cheating wife, a woman who dishonors him in every imaginable way. He could strike her down in her shame, and he should! Shouldn't he?
v.59 "For thus says the Lord God: 'I will deal with you as you have done, who despised the oath by breaking the covenant.'"
Reading the end of the chapter, I saw that's not what God does. He gets even greater revenge on that girl. It's really hard to deal with. Look:
v.62-63 "'And I will establish My covenant with you. Then you shall know that I am the Lord, that you may remember and be ashamed, and never open your mouth anymore because of your shame, when I provide you an atonement for all you have done,' says the Lord God."
How could God do that? That's tremendous. Imagine giving all your love to that person you care for, pouring gifts and tenderness and friendship on him/her, and watching that same lover turn around and cheat on you with everyone and give away your gifts. Could you still love him? Could you forgive her? Could you even contemplate renewing the promise he broke? If you could, you'd get the sweetest revenge of all: forgiveness. Mercy is romantic.
Proverbs 25:21-22 "If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink; for so you will heap coals of fire on his head, and the Lord will reward you."
In Hosea 11 God is talking about Israel's unfaithfulness again. His response of faithfulness blows me away.
v.6-7 "And the sword shall slash in his cities, devour his districts, and consume them, because of their own counsels. My people are bent on backsliding from Me. Though they call to the Most High, none at all exalt Him."
Wait for it!
v. 8-9 "How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I set you like Zeboiim? My heart churns within Me; My sympathy is stirred. I will not exercise the fierceness of My anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim. For I am God, and not man, the Holy One in your midst; and I will not come with terror."
Is your heart melting yet? HOW COULD I EVER LET YOU GO? Look at this. Have you ever loved someone so tenderly that no matter how much you hate him for the evil things he has done to you, you just won't give him up? Why does God do this? Is He a pushover? Is He giving in to the influence of Israel's sad puppy dog face? I don't think that's it. I think God's love, and His hope that one day His love will return, makes Him reluctant to act on His great anger. He shows mercy instead, showing that His love really is the greatest of all. I think He wants to use a tragedy as an opportunity to show the height of His faithfulness to anyone who loves Him. He is the most magnificent lover of all time.
He is still going to punish people, but He doesn't wipe people out without cause. He is still justified in letting us have what we deserve for sin, but He is gracious in giving us what we don't.
I'd have to say that Jesus is my Valentine. He says "Here, have my life." And we say "Thank You! Have my heart." One of the reasons God was so persistent about Israel was that He had this plan to use them to raise up a Savior for the world, to expand His kingdom as a New Jerusalem full of all kinds of people. It's not like this world is a lovely, sweet thing, but He sees what we can be and loves us. He sees we need redemption and dies to give us His righteousness. He would call that group of people the Bride of Christ. Is there anything more romantic than that? A real live forever love. A true, unbreakable, unlimited love. The kind we sing about and wish would happen. The kind that floats in the air on Valentine's Day.
His sacrifice is the biggest way anyone has ever said "I LOVE YOU!" And He will chase us down to the ends of the earth if we take a single step toward Him. He won't make us love him, but He won't give up on trying to save us from ourselves. he wants the glory and our good. And He will give us every chance to say "I LOVE YOU TOO!"
Sunday, February 5, 2012
The Right Fit
THIS WEEK I worked extra hard so I could come home for a day, today, when we are having my Mom's birthday party and Superbowl party combined. I'm very excited to be at home, especially since we are celebrating.
I actually came home last night. My mom came to take me back from school. When I got there I had my sister and brother right in front of me, and my dog standing up on my leg to greet me. I ate dinner and we watched a movie. I think my favorite thing, though, was a belated Christmas present I got, which hadn't gone as planned the first time.
The one thing I told my parents I really wanted for Christmas was a Promise Ring. Just a ring to wear as a promise to save myself for my future husband. A promise to God, to him, and to me. I was really looking forward to getting that ring for Christmas. Sure enough, I got it. It was a beautiful silver ring with the words "True Love Waits" engraved across it in smooth script. But when I put it on, it didn't fit. It was too small for me.
Disappointed, I managed to twist it off my finger and place it back into the box. Okay. I could wait a few days until we could exchange it at the store.
We went back to the store. They didn't have my size.
Dang it. We had to put in an order for another ring, but I had to go back to school before it would arrive. It was more than a month before I was able to put it on.
Last night my Mom gave me another black velvet box just like the other, and inside was another ring just like the old one. But this one fits! And I'm typing to you about it while it gleams on my hand with the words "True Love Waits."
When it didn't work out the first time, you can imagine I was let down. I knew it would come, but I wanted it to come NOW. A promise ring is a good thing to have. Something I SHOULD be able to have. I didn't want to have to wait for it.
But I did. And now I realize something great: the promise ring is something worth waiting for, just like the promise it represents.
Somehow waiting for my ring has made it more meaningful. It's reminded me that sometimes we can't have good things right away. Sometimes it's not the right fit the first time. But the right fit is on its way.
Valentine's Day is coming up next week, a day that always has me looking at my friends with their boyfriends and wondering when it will be my turn. I won't settle, and I won't flirt, so I will wait patiently and remember one of my favorite verses:
In Matthew 6:33 Jesus tells us not to worry about how to get the things we need. "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."
A girl doesn't need to be with a guy until she can be okay without one. If she learns to seek God first, she won't get stuck in the wrong fit, one that's really hard to get off. If she settles for that, she will never be happy with it. The right fit probably won't come right away, but it will come along, and it will mean more because she waited.
Now that I'm done waiting for my promise ring, I understand why I had to wait. It's so much better with the right one, one that fits me, one that I was patient for. Right now, especially this time of year, sometimes it will be annoying to wait. I'll be concerned that when another guy does come along it still might not be the right fit. But I'll wear my ring as long as I need to. And when the wait gets long and Valentine's Day gets old, I'll look at my ring and remember why I bother. True love does wait.
I actually came home last night. My mom came to take me back from school. When I got there I had my sister and brother right in front of me, and my dog standing up on my leg to greet me. I ate dinner and we watched a movie. I think my favorite thing, though, was a belated Christmas present I got, which hadn't gone as planned the first time.
The one thing I told my parents I really wanted for Christmas was a Promise Ring. Just a ring to wear as a promise to save myself for my future husband. A promise to God, to him, and to me. I was really looking forward to getting that ring for Christmas. Sure enough, I got it. It was a beautiful silver ring with the words "True Love Waits" engraved across it in smooth script. But when I put it on, it didn't fit. It was too small for me.
Disappointed, I managed to twist it off my finger and place it back into the box. Okay. I could wait a few days until we could exchange it at the store.
We went back to the store. They didn't have my size.
Dang it. We had to put in an order for another ring, but I had to go back to school before it would arrive. It was more than a month before I was able to put it on.
Last night my Mom gave me another black velvet box just like the other, and inside was another ring just like the old one. But this one fits! And I'm typing to you about it while it gleams on my hand with the words "True Love Waits."
When it didn't work out the first time, you can imagine I was let down. I knew it would come, but I wanted it to come NOW. A promise ring is a good thing to have. Something I SHOULD be able to have. I didn't want to have to wait for it.
But I did. And now I realize something great: the promise ring is something worth waiting for, just like the promise it represents.
Somehow waiting for my ring has made it more meaningful. It's reminded me that sometimes we can't have good things right away. Sometimes it's not the right fit the first time. But the right fit is on its way.
Valentine's Day is coming up next week, a day that always has me looking at my friends with their boyfriends and wondering when it will be my turn. I won't settle, and I won't flirt, so I will wait patiently and remember one of my favorite verses:
In Matthew 6:33 Jesus tells us not to worry about how to get the things we need. "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."
A girl doesn't need to be with a guy until she can be okay without one. If she learns to seek God first, she won't get stuck in the wrong fit, one that's really hard to get off. If she settles for that, she will never be happy with it. The right fit probably won't come right away, but it will come along, and it will mean more because she waited.
Now that I'm done waiting for my promise ring, I understand why I had to wait. It's so much better with the right one, one that fits me, one that I was patient for. Right now, especially this time of year, sometimes it will be annoying to wait. I'll be concerned that when another guy does come along it still might not be the right fit. But I'll wear my ring as long as I need to. And when the wait gets long and Valentine's Day gets old, I'll look at my ring and remember why I bother. True love does wait.
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