I think I first saw it in a catalogue---then I saw it hanging in a store.
It was love at first sight.
A stylish new winter coat in one of my favorite colors.
As I looked at my own winter coat (that was several years old) it was easy to justify the purchase. It was even on SALE (Ca-Ching!!!)
The only problem was that they didn’t have my size---not in the store or online.
Even when I searched other stores, my particular size was still unavailable. Try as I may to squish myself into the next size down, it just wasn’t happening. Go up a size and I might as well have been wearing a tent. For months the search continued, checking sale flyers and searching stores only to find that my size was simply sold out. Not available.
I tried looking at other coats, but I just couldn’t find one I liked. Nothing was quite the right fit, so I gave up the search and thought, “Maybe I’ll just wait until next year” and moved on.
Finally spring and summer came and I was thrilled to shed the winter weather gear in favor of sandals and sundresses (my version of comfort wear). It seemed like it was too soon that Autumn arrived and winter coats started reappearing in the stores.
“Here we go again…the endless search. I guess it’s time to settle for something even if it’s not exactly what I want”, I thought.
Then it happened---the coat reappeared. This time my size was AVAILABLE! And it was on sale---like really, really cheap!
Well, I scooped that baby up right away!
When it arrived in the mail (because I ordered it online) and I tried it on I thought, “You know, I’m glad I didn’t settle. It was worth the wait.”
Give it your best shot winter, because I am ready to live happily ever after. (Okay, not as happily ever after as I am with my sandals, but I live in Pennsylvania and it’s COOOLLLDD!)
The other afternoon, I was thinking about this incident (and the fact that I was glad I waited) and thought about how the same principle applies to so many areas of our lives---especially for those of us who are single.
I swear no season stirs the desire to settle than the holidays (well, maybe Valentine’s Day, but Christmas is pretty tough).
It’s hard to go to the holiday gathering filled with families alone.
There’s a limit to how many times you can answer the question, “So what’s a pretty girl like you doing single?”
And then there’s all of those Hallmark Christmas movies. (I will refrain from my annual rant.)
You’ve got relatives asking for updates on your dating life and well-meaning Aunts reminding you that your biological clock is ticking.
With all of these factors in play, it’s no wonder that dating websites will be in advertising overdrive from now until Valentine’s Day ends.
As these commercials pop up on your t.v. and computer, there may be a part of you that thinks, “Maybe I should just settle. Perhaps it’s time to stop waiting on God, lower my standards, and do whatever I have to do to be in a relationship.”
As a single sister in Christ whose had these thoughts let me encourage you: DON’T DO IT!!!!
NEVER, EVER, EVER, SETTLE!!!!
Don’t lower your standards and start looking for love in all the wrong places.
Don’t start flirting with (or worse yet) dating non-Christians or really anyone who doesn’t love Jesus with the same passion you do.
Don’t compromise and sin, bending the Biblical standards of purity to attract a man.
Don’t become a desperate female hunter and go on a quest for a man.
Instead, stop.
Remind yourself that the holidays are going to pass a lot quicker than the residual effect of a bad relationship.
Give yourself a spiritual slap in the face and remember WHO YOU ARE and WHOSE YOU ARE.
Remember that you are a woman of value, the daughter of the God of the Universe and that He has a plan for your life that is above and beyond anything that you can imagine.
Force yourself to remember that just because you may not get the relationship you want this Christmas doesn’t mean that it will never happen.
God doesn’t work on a man-made timetable. He’s not Santa Claus working on a Christmas Eve deadline. Instead, He gives His best gifts in HIS PERFECT TIME AND SEASON. He is orchestrating the moments of your life and He lead you to His perfect will for your life if you’re willing to hang on, keep following Him, and dare I say, WAIT.
Don’t believe me?
Look no further than the Christmas story and remember that it didn’t start in the New Testament.
Nope, the promise of the Messiah began in Genesis 3.
It continued through the call of Abraham, Issac and Jacob, and was passed down to their descendants.
It sustained the Israelites through the wilderness, into the Promised Land, through the kings, prophets, wars, the Babylonian Exile and the 400 years of silence between the Old and New Testament.
Still, in God’s perfect time the promise was fulfilled and the Messiah came to earth.
A truth we can draw from this: God’s will is always worth the wait.
This isn’t just true of the Bible, but it’s true in your life.
This truth reminds us not to settle, but to wait for God to bring His plans to fulfillment in your life trusting that HE KNOWS BEST.
In the meantime, CELEBRATE THE SEASON.
Trust that someday you’ll look back and say, “I’m glad I didn’t settle---it was worth the wait.”
