"Look At Me, Son."

So I was watching The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies last night with my sister. And I was struck by a scene in a new way when I watched it.

It’s the scene where Bard, standing on top of the shattered bell tower, strikes is broken bow on each side and levels the black arrow at Smaug’s chest. The arrow is resting on his son’s shoulder. Bain can sense the great evil that is stalking ever near him and his father. I bet his heart is running rampant and he wasn’t everything to turn and watch. But when Bard calmly states, “Look at me, son. Just look at me,” Bain obeys.

For those of you how’ve seen the movie, and for those of you who haven’t, I find this scene so inspiring to my Christian faith. How, you ask? Well let me take it piece by piece.

To start, the Dragon Smaug is symbolic to the devil to me. He is ever stalking us, trying to bring us down with a puff of is fire. We, like Bain, are stuck atop a tower, sitting ducks so to speak. There is no way we could ever take down this beast. (If you’ve seen the movie, then recall Bain laying on is back, petrified with fear because he almost fell to his death.)  

Bard, on the other hand is our Heavenly Father. He is the only one who can defeat this monster. He is the one with the “black arrow” of Salvation (I rather think white arrow is a more fitting term). He knows that the Devil can never stand against him. And he is all lined up, willing to help us.

If we let him.

See, Jesus is standing there continually telling us to “Look at me, Son. Keep your eyes on me.” And we have a choice whether we are going to obey.

Now, we could say “No, Jesus. I’ve got this!” and turn, only to be struck by the petrifying truth that we are in no way a match for this beast. Or we, like Bain, can nod our head, even though the fear is so great, and keep our eyes on Jesus. It is only through doing this that we can conquer our demons. It’s only through Jesus that we can be saved.

Hebrews 12:1-2 ESV “...let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith…”

Psalm 16:8 NIV “I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.”

Proverbs 4:25, NLT “Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you.”

True Love Waits.

So we've all heard the quote that's my post's title. That phrase that just drives us nutty because, while it may be true, we haven't perfected the spiritual fruit of patients! I know that it's true for me. In fact, I'm going through this struggle right now. 

Everywhere I'm looking it seems that someone I know is either in a relationship or getting into one. You can't escape the love songs, even with Christian artists. TV, books and movie are all waving them in our faces. 

So, as a eighteen year old girl, I struggle. I know he (as in, future spouse) is out there. And you know what? It's infuriating to think about it! He could be dating someone else! And God knows we're going to be together someday. But right now? We could be half a world away.

I've quoted Proverbs 3:5-6 which says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your path." But it's hard to live out. 

So that's why I'm working on this! I'm calling it ...

Five things to do while you wait for your future spouse

OR

The Waiting List

(Let me know your favorite in the comments!) 

Okay! Here we go! 

1. Write to him/her. Seriously! I do this and it's so cool to think about giving it to him on our wedding night. But a few warnings! Don't write to a specific person! If you're dating in high school/college, write to your future spouse, not your boyfriend/girlfriend. This will ruin your whole journal. I mean, who wants to give something to their husband or wife that was written for someone else? What I write is scripture passages that I want him to read, things I'm looking forward to in marriage, basically whenever I'm thinking about him. Not a silly crush, not an actor or other famous person. HIM. 
2. Pray for him/her. This is another thing that is so cool! Seriously pray for your spouse. I also use my journal for this! You can also pray for the person you're crushing on. Ask God to show you whether this like will turn into love. I did this on my last crush and fair warning, sometimes God's answer isn't what we want. But, he will always help you through it. 
3.  Feed on God's word. Okay so I am so bad at this one! I know it's important but when life is good, it gets easy to just ignore the Bible on my nightstand. But the only way to grow closer to a spouse (future or otherwise) is to grow closer to Jesus.  
4. Don't be a chaser! Be happy in your singleness! Until we can full accept being single, God isn't going to bring in a man to our lives. What do I mean by that? Okay so I know a lot of girls (and if you're one of these I still love you!) who don't feel like they're worth anything with out a boyfriend. They break up and then a month later they're dating someone else! Seriously?! I thought Bob Smith was the love of your life! Well obviously not. And see, that's the problem! We need to realize that God can use us whether we have a boyfriend/spouse or not. Lottie Moon and Corrie ten Boom were two single ladies who did amazing work for the Lord. God doesn't care about your relationship status. He cares about your heart.
5. Live your life to its fullest NOW! There are many things that, once you're married, you won't be able to do! So live your life right now. Do the crazy things you've wanted to do. Write that novel, go to that place, hang out with your firends, go to college, ect. Yes, marriage is wonderful. But once you're married ... you're married! The two of you become one and you're a team. You're now not only caring for yourself, you have someone else depending on you too. So life your life when it's yours.  

That's my list guys! And listen, I'm not anti-marrige. Not at all! :) Just check out some of my stories and you'll see that, like Anne Shirley, I'm a hopeless romantic. I dream and I wish and I hope. But above all I wait. And I now God'll brinig a man to me that's worthy of my heart someday. Maybe sooner than I think ... and when he appears? Oh what a day of rejoicing that'll be for me! 

Jesus, I'm waiting on you. You know where he is. You know who he is. I trust you to bring him to me when I am ready. I'm hiding my love away and saving it for him. Help me to wait on your timing. For you make everything beautiful in it's time (Ecc. 3:11a) I love you Lord! Amen