Ladies-In-Waiting (Single Ladies)

Today's Passage: Song of Solomon 5:10-16, 6:1-3
Memory Verse: Song of Solomon 6:3

Do you remember your wildest, most specific dream of something you desired in earlier years of your life? If you're like me, it probably was a beautiful brick home at least two stories high, with five bedrooms at the most and enough space for living as well as ministering to others. When your heart is set on something, you visualize being able to obtain it, and you keep it before you in order to never forget just how much you're looking forward to having it.

But in my zeal to have that home, I didn't think about the fact that my current attitude about where I am actually influences where I want to be. And so for a few years, I saw myself "settling" for a smaller house, believing that the one I truly wanted was just around the corner, and that any moment now it would be mine. And even though I still dreamed about that beautiful home, I began to see my life in the house I currently lived in as a prison, finding no joy or fulfillment in the many awesome memories that God had given me there with my wonderful husband and children. Sometimes, I would even feel myself being resentful towards God for not bringing my dream to pass in a more timely fashion, as though my only purpose in life were to live in my dream house.

Even though I have grown up a lot in the Lord, and begun to understand His love for us, I've still sought an answer to this question: why does He make us wait for desires that He placed within us in the first place? And He always answers by showing me just how much preparation I need for the next level of blessing in my life. What if God allowed me to get the bigger house without taking me through the process of learning to become a good steward over the smaller one? Without teaching me how to live well and with contentment in a space where my family and I have nowhere to escape from one another?

What if God gave David the throne immediately after anointing him king without first taking him through the process of learning to fight the lions and bears? What if Joseph had never gone through rejection from his brothers AFTER revealing his dream of greatness? I realize I wouldn't have lasted one year in the new season without preparation for it in my attitude, good habits of stewardship, and most of all, my RELATIONSHIP with the Father.

I guess what I'm trying to say to my sisters who are truly ladies-in-waiting (waiting for the dream of that husband the Lord has promised you to show up and sweep you off your feet) is this: be joyful in the season of preparation, even as you dream about your true love being everything you can imagine he will be. Don't forget, though, that your FIRST love is with you NOW. Don't shun the many hours of alone time you have with Him; this will teach you intimacy. Serve and wait on Him, fulfilling every desire of His heart; this will guarantee the fulfillment of yours. And being content with who you are NOW will teach you never to settle for someone who may only keep you from feeling lonely, but will never make your heart skip a beat everytime you lay eyes on him.

As God teaches you how to love Him first, then yourself, begin to prepare for your husband by saying like the Shulamite woman: "My beloved has gone to tend to his flock; he is being prepared for me as I am for him. He is mine, and I am his."

Prayer: Father, thank You for showing me that I need this time of preparation for the husband You have for me. May every moment of my life be filled with my love and service of You and Your kingdom, even as I wait for my desires to be fulfilled. Thank You for the wonderful things You have in store. In Jesus' Name, Amen.