Seven Secrets for Celebrating in the Waiting

Spring has arrived and with that the beginning of the wedding season has also come.  The wedding bells are ringing! In the last few months, I’ve seen several people enter a relationship, become engaged, or get married. It has been an abnormal amount of people and ones that have waited for a very long time for their beloved. My own brother is one and I must say, I’m beyond giddy with delight because of this news! I have another friend who I’ve been praying for to be joined with her husband for many years. Guess what? She has met him and is getting married this summer!  God is answering prayers left and right! He is saying, “yes” to the hearts desires of His children. There is a wave of weddings happening this year! So what do we as singles do with that when our own wedding still waits to transpire and we haven’t quite caught the wave yet?

Celebrate! That’s what we get to do! Celebrate like it’s your own breakthrough…because it very well could be. Someone else’s breakthrough can actually become your testimony. When my friend got engaged this spring, not only was I overjoyed because of this answered prayer, but it was also a sweet confirmation and faith builder that God is totally on uniting His children with their earthly beloveds in this season. God is on the move, my friend! That’s something to celebrate!

I realize it can be easy to look at someone who has what we desire and become jealous, bitter and even deny the fact that God hasn’t forgotten us. I know all to well that the voice of the enemy likes to whisper lies and try to trip us up or distract us by inviting us to our very own pity party. So how do we position our hearts in such a way that celebrates someone else’s breakthrough and keep the faith that ours is on its way?

It can be a delicate dance. On one hand, it’s important to not deny the fact that you still desire to be married. On the other hand, it’s important to celebrate without reserve. The two seem opposite of each other, but I think they can actually mingle and have success. In fact, I know they can because I’ve seen it happen in my own life.

Can I share a few secrets with you of how I’ve experienced victory over this? That isn’t to say I’ve never struggled with jealousy or bitterness. But on my journey toward freedom, I’ve discovered a few things that have helped immensely. These are just a few.

1. I keep the truth in front of me and review it often. This includes scripture verses God has given me in relation to His promises to me. Here are just a few key truth reminders:
• God has not forgotten me.
• God’s timing is perfect.
• God is faithful and true.
• I serve a God of abundance. There is no lack in His kingdom for fulfilling His promises.
• God sees the full picture, I only see in part. He’s trustworthy!
2. I pour out my heart to God reminding Him of His promises to me. I hand over the ache inside of me and ask Him to hold my heart. Finally, in the end, I tell Him that I trust Him and His ways…because they are best. In fact, I know that He wants it more than I do, so I simply say, “yes, as you wish” to His ways, because they are certainly better than mine.
3. If I’m really struggling, I confide in one or two close friends and ask for them to pray with me.
4. I spend time praising God for all the good things in my life until the fog lifts and my joy returns.
5. I exercise my faith and gratitude muscles by thanking God that my friend’s breakthrough is paving the way for my own breakthrough to happen. God’s faithfulness to another is as true to them as it is to me. And then I celebrate with my friends with my whole heart and at the same level that I hope my friends will be able to celebrate with me when my turn comes.
6. I ask Jesus, how can I please you? Then I listen and obey. This helps to remove my focus from me and really hone in on God’s perspective and how I can please Him in this moment.
7. I fix my gaze on Jesus. Period. When I do that, everything else comes into focus clearly.

I’ve learned that it’s so important to remember who God is! When my only point of rejoicing is in what He does instead of who He is it is tempting to question who He is. If I let myself go there, my focus has been turned upside down and needs to be flipped. This is why my truth reminders listed above focus on God’s character.

In the book of Mark, James and John make a request to sit at the right and left of Jesus in his glory (Mark 10:35-45). Jesus response to them was – are you able to drink the bitter cup of sorrow? Sometimes, like James and John, we ask for things that we are not really ready for because we’re not in a place where we have the strength and character for the answer to our prayer. We’re not thinking of the bitter cup of suffering that might come with our request. We’re just thinking of the outcome. However, there is a cost to be counted with our requests. The good news is that we can have whatever we want and God won’t kill us with it. How? What’s the antidote? Waiting.  Check out Psalm 37 if you want to dig a little deeper into the topic of waiting and receiving the desires of your heart. In fact, I praise God for the waiting because if we allow God to mold us in the waiting, we’ll be shaped, equipped, strengthened, and ready to embrace the fulfillment of our dreams. I like Bill Johnson’s approach on this. He says, “A delayed answer to prayer is gaining interest.” When the fulfillment of our prayers comes to fruition, it will be a richer experience all around.

Take heart and be encouraged my friend! If you steward what God has given you and said to you, then you can watch expectantly as He brings His Word to fruition. I love that if we are simply faithful with the little that God has given us, God will trust us to be faithful with the more.

Don’t give up. Keep your hope. Celebrate big this wedding season. Your turn is coming!