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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
Daughters
of Jerusalem, I charge you by the gazelles and by the does of the field: Do not
arouse or awaken love until it so desires.
All
night long on my bed I looked for the one my heart loves; I looked for him but
did not find him. I will get up now and go about the city, through its streets
and squares; I will search for the one my heart loves. So I looked for him but
did not find him. The watchmen found me as they made their rounds in the city. “Have
you seen the one my heart loves?” Scarcely had I passed them when I found the
one my heart loves.
I held him and would not let him go till I had brought him to my mother’s house, to the room of the one who conceived me. Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you by the gazelles and by the does of the field:
Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.
I held him and would not let him go till I had brought him to my mother’s house, to the room of the one who conceived me. Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you by the gazelles and by the does of the field:
Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.
Who is this coming up from the wilderness like a
column of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and incense made from all the spices of
the merchant? Look! It is Solomon’s carriage, escorted by sixty warriors,
the noblest of Israel, all of them wearing the sword, all experienced in
battle, each with his sword at his side, prepared for the terrors of the night.
King Solomon made for himself the carriage; he made
it of wood from Lebanon. Its posts he made of silver, its base of gold.
Its seat was upholstered with purple, its interior inlaid with love. Daughters
of Jerusalem, come out, and look, you
daughters of Zion. Look on King Solomon wearing a crown, the crown with which
his mother crowned him on the day of his wedding, the day his heart rejoiced.
Daughters
of Jerusalem, I charge you: Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.
Song of Songs 2:7; 3:1-10; 8:4
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to
God.
“Patience is a virtue and I try to be virtuous.”
I don’t know how many times I have said this to people who
apologized for times I have had to wait. I’ve lost count actually but one thing
is for sure. I meant it every time I said it.
You see, if we have one glaring weakness as a people of
God, it’s that we lack patience. And it’s evident in so many more places than
when we are caused to wait longer than we like.
It’s evident when we are driving and encounter traffic or
drivers who seem to be less interested about driving and more interested in
talking or texting on their cell phone or any other litany of distracting
mannerisms we see drivers partaking in while operating their motor vehicle.
It’s evident when we parent and our child or children have
tested us to the point where we’re ready to scream – and too often that’s
exactly what ends up happening as they push us over the edge of patience.
It’s evident in our relationships of life, even within
loving, Godly relationships.
Our partners have all kinds of habits, most of them bad,
that drive us crazy. Sometimes we are tolerant and choose to just let things go
vice start a disagreement. Other times, however, we simply can’t resist the
urge to speak out, our patience worn out by the persistent actions of the one
we love.
And so we voice our frustrations and more often than not,
it leads to disagreement or argument or hurt, at times leaving us thinking that
it might have been better to just be a little more patient.
Finally, a lack of patience is evident, sometimes painfully
so, when a person fails to just wait for the Lord to bring them the right
partner. Annoyed, bothered, and discouraged as they see their friends in love
and relationship while they remain single, people will often jump into
relationships that are not right for them, just to be with someone, actions
that often hold disastrous and painful results.
How many marriages have ended early because people jumped
into the marriage without discovering whether there was any hint of
compatibility between the partners?
How many people have been seriously harmed in a
relationship because they jumped into it before really knowing the person they
were yoking themselves to?
If only we would be more patient.
Patience is what led my wife to wait and wait a long time.
She promised her mother she wouldn’t get into a serious relationship until the
right man came along, the man that the Lord had in mind for her. I’m grateful
she did wait because I ended up being that man and the Lord has blessed our
loving, Godly relationship for more than 21 years now. All because Grace
exercised the kind of patience that Shulammite encouraged women to adopt back
in the Old Testament days as she said:
Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you: Do
not arouse or awaken love until it so desires. Song of Songs 8:4
The key to doing this, to not arouse or awaken love until
it desires is to not arouse or awaken love until God, the One who allows us to
love through His love for us (1 John 14:9), directs us to. In other words, we shouldn’t
ever enter into a relationship unless it is ordained by the One who will bless
it because that relationship is happening in accordance with His will.
This is going to require perseverance. This is going to
possibly require a long period of waiting.
“That’s OK,” the Lord would say. “Stay the course and allow
me to lead you to the man or woman I have in mind for you. Allow me to continue
to grow and ripen my fruits of the Spirit within you (Galatians 5:22-23). Trust
me, hold onto My promises, and know I will always work things out for the good
of those who love Me (Romans 8:28).
“But most of all My child, be patient so you will
experience My blessing as I desire you to, remembering as you wait that you are
never alone for I am with you.”
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
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