This weekend, for the second time in my entire life, I had the opportunity to select my very own Christmas tree. My friend Faith and her family have a tradition of cutting down their tree together each year before Christmas, and they have been gracious enough to include me for the past 2 years. As I recalled the general merriment of our last tree excursion, I expected this time to be an equally enjoyable experience. But I never anticipated that the Christmas tree selection process would also help teach me an invaluable life lesson.
After stepping into the world of Christmas trees, Faith made her decision rather quickly. I however, was unable to do the same. As the minutes ticked by and I still continued to look, I began to feel an internal sense of pressure to speed up my search. But as Faith made suggestions about trees for me to consider, I couldn't help but notice things that bothered me. They were fine trees. And I wanted someone to have them. But they just weren't my tree. So I kept looking.
As I considered tree after tree, I began to wonder if there was even a tree out there that was right for me. Maybe I would just leave the tree farm empty handed. Maybe I should have just gone ahead and chosen one of the other trees even though I had doubts about them. Was it too late to go back and find one of those other “ok” trees? Had I let all my chances pass me by?
But then something happened that broke through my barrage of internal questions. I spotted it. A beautiful tree. All of the other trees just faded into a distant memory. I didn't hesitate to deliberate about this tree's flaws as I had done with the others. Instead, I stood there, marveling at it's perfection. Immediately, I knew it was the one. This tree had been worth the wait.
As I grabbed the saw to confirm the finality of my decision, I realized that all the fears I had about choosing one of the others trees were now gone. A wave of relief passed over me. Why had I been so nervous that I wouldn't find what I was looking for? Why had I even considered settling for a tree that I wasn't excited to call my very own?
And that's when it hit me. The fears I had about finding the right Christmas tree were the same fears I had about getting married. Actually, it's scary how similar my inner monologues have been on the two subjects.
As friends around me have been getting married, I have begun to feel the internal pressure that I need to hurry up and get married too or at least get a boyfriend so I can move in that direction. Then when it's seeming to take a long time, I begin to wonder if I will ever get married. Is there even a guy out there who's right for me? Maybe I'll die single. Maybe I should have just gone ahead and married one of the guys who expressed interest in the past even though I had doubts about them. Was it too late for me? Had I given up all my chances of getting married?
And yet, as I stood there with my wonderful Christmas tree, it was blatantly obvious that waiting a little longer was entirely worth it. The joy I was now experiencing made my fears seem silly in comparison. And if waiting for the right Christmas tree could bring such joy, how much more would there be in waiting for the right man to marry! Wouldn't it seem that waiting for a husband would be even more worth it? I think so. Whoever he may be, I have to believe that he's well worth the wait.
But the scary thing about waiting is that there's no guarantee that you'll actually get the thing you're waiting for. There's a risk involved. What if I had scoured the entire Christmas tree farm and never found the tree I was looking for? What if I wait my entire life for the kind of man I'm interested in marrying but still never end up getting married? These are real possibilities. Yet these are risks I'm willing to take, not just because I'm hoping that the risk will pay off in this life, but because I have decided to view my life through the lens of eternity.
What do I mean? Well, if you're not considering the existence of anything beyond this life, and if there's not really a guarantee that “good things come to those who wait,” then it would really only make sense to just “take whatever you can get.” There's no sense in waiting. And then the most you can really hope for is that you'll be one of the lucky ones who just happens to end up with the best of all the good things life has to offer. But then you die and you lose everything you had gained. Sad, I know...
If however, there really is an afterlife, then that totally changes everything. Here's how Paul compares this life with eternity for those who have put their hope in Christ:
“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us...For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience” (Romans 8:18, 24-25).
Paul says that we have hope, knowing that what we're truly waiting for can be found in heaven, and once we have the thing we really want, we won't even remember all the other “ok” things we gave up while here on earth. So we can wait for this “glory to be revealed” patiently, because unlike the things we wait for on earth, there is actually a guarantee that we'll get what we're waiting for.
So what is this guaranteed “glory that is to be revealed to us” that's totally worth the wait? Can it really help drive away the fears that revolve around the possibility of never getting good things like marriage during our time on earth? Absolutely! It's a better marriage to the perfect husband!
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:1-4)
For those whose sins have been washed away by the blood of Christ, we will be clothed in white, like a bride, and presented to our groom, Jesus, in the most epic wedding celebration of all time. And when we're with Him, He will take care of all the sadness and all the pain we felt during this life so that we never have to experience such misery ever again. Wow! What an amazing picture of what we have to look forward to!
How then can this help me wait for a guy I would be excited to marry (like I waited for my Christmas tree)? Well, since I will most certainly be part of the most amazing wedding in history, I don't have to let the fear of never getting married dictate my life. I can wait when God has called me to wait without second guessing myself. I can pray diligently that God would provide the kind of man I'm longing for. But whether or not I see that provision here on earth, I can continue to trust Him. Either way, I'll be reminded of my desire for heaven. Not getting what I long for drives me to desire heaven – to set my heart on the only guaranteed happy ending. And getting what my heart longs for drives me to desire heaven just as much, because any happiness or joy I experience here on earth is just a broken picture of the marvelous joys that I'll experience in heaven forever. All of this just serves to help me fall more in love with this God of grace, who has loved me so well and sent His Son to die for me – His enemy – so that I could become His bride.
What a great God we have who beautifully orchestrates our lives, using every circumstance and longing of our hearts to point us to our greater longing for Him! Who knew that He would even use something as simple as choosing a Christmas tree to remind me that Jesus is worth the wait…
Jesus is most certainly worth it, and Loving Him is Red!
Can anyone else relate to these struggles?
What Scriptures have reminded you that Jesus is worth the wait?
*This post was originally published as a Facebook note on 12/7/12 and is now making an appearance on the blog due to popular demand :)
Beautiful! Thanks for sharing your thoughts :)
ReplyDeleteThanks as always for speaking Grace and Truth into my life!
ReplyDeleteWell put! You are a wise woman, Sarah Monticue. I remember us talking about things like this and being encouraged. It is hard to wait for something you haven't yet seen. I found the perfect Christmas tree/man for me, and was glad I didn't settle for others. I remember in the summer when I was a kid, bats would fly around catching mosquitos, and our dad would try to point them out to us. And we would look for them and see something and be like "was that a bat?" and my dad would say, "No, you'll know it when you see it." And eventually we did, they were so distinctive from birds when you finally saw one swoop past overhead. It was like that when I understood what Christ did for me and was glad to finally see things click into place and understood I was seeing the real deal. It is the same when you meet the right man too, even if you see others beforehand and ask God, "Was that him?" Sarah, you always encouraged me to wait for the best, and I did, and I'm grateful. But even still, I see the pain of a fallen world compared to the hope of a perfect eternity with Christ and look forward to that day when my hope is made real.
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