Learning to see the waiting as a gift.

Please enjoy this guest blog post from my friend Laura!

I have been waiting, for what feels like ages.

I’m currently 24 and have never dated anyone—much less gone on a date. If you were to tell me a few years ago that I would still be single at the age of 24, I would have been super discouraged. However, within the past few years, my view of singleness has changed. I now see singleness as a blessing.

Roughly two years back, I thought I was given the opportunity to get to know someone. I was overjoyed even when nothing had happened yet! I dreamed, I hoped, I prayed so hard, I dreamed some more...but nothing happened. Every day I woke up with this expectation that TODAY was different. TODAY would be the day that he would reach out. And day after day, I would go to bed disappointed. Then the cycle would repeat the following day. My phone was a place I went to often, hoping for a message, a missed call or that my phone would ring at that moment. I also journaled a lot, writing about him by name and praying for him. Looking back, it was awful. I was glued to the wrong thing and I praise God a relationship never came out of the situation.

I remember one night I was super discouraged about it. I was overwhelmed, I was so sick of the whole thing. I believe it was at that time that I truly surrendered my situation to the Lord. I remember literally weeping as I handed it all to Him. I prayed that beautiful prayer our Savior taught us: “Thy will be done.” I thought the Lord had given me a gift and I clung to it so tightly. But the Lord’s thoughts were higher and greater. The days following that surrender were some of the most beautiful days I had ever

experienced. At the time I had some music lessons to teach but I was mostly at home. Those were such blessed days because I threw myself upon the Lord. I relied upon Him for strength. I brought my weakness to Him daily and I asked Him to Īll me up with Himself. And He answered exceeding, abundantly above all I could have ever asked, thought or imagined. The Lord came to me in ways I had never experienced before. I clung to Him like I never had before. He supported me and provided for me. I read His Word and felt a peace I had never felt before. I studied the Psalms during that time and read them, re-read them and re-re-read them!

Just recently, I found my journal I had used that year. And I did something I had wanted to do with it for a while. I threw it out. I wanted those desires to never be heard about or seen again.

Single ladies, I wrote out this life lesson for you.

Wait. I know, it is so cliché.

Wait. But do not just wait. Wait on the Lord. He gives so much hope, so much peace, so much strength and so much joy. When we do not wait on the Lord but see our waiting season as a waste, we will find no joy and peace. This waiting season you are in right now did not just so happen. No, you are in it now for a purpose. Our God does not make mistakes. It is not like He is up in Heaven saying, “Oops...her season went a little too long...” or “Sorry, My mistake. Let’s bring her someone today.” NO! Our God is in COMPLETE and TOTAL control. No mistakes are made by our Perfect Creator. He has EVERYTHING in the palm of His hand.

There are so many verses in Scripture that talk about waiting. I picked out a few.

“Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD” (Psalm 27:14).

“Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for him...” (Psalm 37:7).

“Wait on the LORD, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land...” (Psalm 37:34).

It is a GOOD thing to wait on the Lord. I know, it is hard. I know the painfulness of waiting, the tears that come and the fears that you will not ever get married. But it is truly a beautiful season. Do you know why? Because you can find amazing satisfaction in God, as I have! God is the great Satisfier. There have been numerous times when He has come and satisfied me to a fuller extent than I ever expected. He is the only One who can satisfy you. And if you have not realized that, God wants you to learn that during this time of singleness. I have a lockscreen picture on my phone that says: “Her heart is completely satisfied in the Lord.” It is a beautiful reminder every time I look at it that the Lord truly is our only Satisfaction. Even when you start dating, get engaged and get married, your satisfaction will still be the Lord.

If you try to make your boyfriend or husband your satisfaction, you will be disappointed. If you try to make dating or your engagement your satisfaction, you will be disappointed. I went through so much disappointment just on setting my satisfaction on the thought of dating! There is a beautiful part of marriage but we need to remember that if God blesses us with marriage, it will not all be heavenly bliss. Your husband will never satisfy you like the Lord does. Do not put that on him because you both will end up disappointed. (I wanted to take a minute to thank Madison for sharing this truth on her blog at one point! Madison, I started following you at the perfect time—in the midst of all this. And your posts helped me so much. I praise God that He used you to bring comfort to me. Thank you!! <3)

Instead of making your waiting season a wasting season, you can pray this beautiful prayer from Psalm 25:4-5: “Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.” Tell your soul to wait on the Lord like the Psalmist does: “My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him (Psalm 62:5). When you wait on the Lord, you truly will be blessed. “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” -Isaiah 40:31.

I want to finish with a beautiful verse one of my sweet friends reminds me of very often.

I want to remind you of it as well: “For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly” (Psalm 84:11). If it is good for you to be dating, the Lord will not withhold that from you. And the same is true if it is a good thing for you to be single. So trust Him, ladies. When you wait on Him, He will give you the strength you need to see waiting as a beautiful gift.

-Laura

@laura_loga24

P.S. From Madison:

If you're reading this post and thinking "Um, there's no way this season is a gift. It's painful, lonely, and I don't think it's the way life was meant to be lived." Girl, I've been there. And I've found that an intentional heart tune-up helps when the waiting is growing frustrating. I put together a free guide to help you bring your heart to a place of praise and peace as you walk through this. Download it here.