A Call to Patience

Your rich uncle who lives in another country sends you a letter on your 15th birthday. He writes that he knows you have recently begun working a part-time job and that you're saving up for a car and college tuition.
He says that he would like to offer his financial blessing to you as you're reaching adulthood - only if you continue to further your education by receiving a college degree. His letter clearly states that you can ask him for his blessing between now and ten years from now, and the blessing will total $100. However, if you wait ten years (your 25th birthday), the blessing will total $10 Million.
Did you get that? You can get $100 now or $10,000,000 in ten years. Who wouldn't wait?
I mean, $100 could help. You could buy a nice pair of jeans or a few dress shirts. Or you could buy a new textbook for college. But, seriously... New clothes can wait until you get that 10 Mil. You can get a loan for college until your uncle sends his blessing. You can make do for ten years.

It's a lot like waiting for marriage or sleeping with your boyfriend/girlfriend. Typically, people will date between 15 and 25 years old, and marry in their mid to late twenties. Nothing's wrong with dating, but when you throw in a sexual experience, you lose something that should have been saved for the wedding night. You may experience something fairly good now, but it won't last. It won't be the fantastic experience of marriage - first of all, knowing that your spouse is committed to you and to God for a lifetime, trusting in the sanctity and safety of your marriage.
Okay, so all of that may sound like a bunch of mumbo jumbo to your teenage brain. So here it is in simple terms: "Don't sacrifice what you want the most for what you want in the moment." (Quote by my history teacher)
What do you want the most? The majority of us would say a stable marriage and family, a good job, a healthy, God-filled life... But you can sacrifice all of that in a split-second decision that would take from your future spouse what belongs to them and possibly cause a life-threatening STD or a life-changing unplanned pregnancy.

Now, listen here: It's going to be tempting, especially when your wallet is looking a little empty in the middle of the semester, to ask Uncle Moneybags for his $100. But IMAGINE the reward when you wait ten years! You could be set for life!
And imagine the reward of a secure, faithful marriage and a growing family - you'll be set for life, literally.

So, here's my Call to Patience!

Dream

I had a dream last night.

It was about something that happened, or rather, didn't happen, in high school. The dream concerned me asking a fellow classmate for advice about this thing which was to have happened.

I woke up before the advice was given, unfortunately. But I really did want this thing to happen - it seemed to be right thing for me. Something I had prayed for, begged for, and wished for all these
years.

But the right thing at the wrong time is the wrong thing.

Even if it was God's perfect who and what, it probably wasn't God's perfect when or where. The right thing at the wrong time is the wrong thing.

This dream reminded me of that thing I wanted so badly. And that I'll never get it in my timing. My timing.

I think in the long run, this has taught me to recognize that 1) getting everything I want is not really what I want, 2) God has a higher purpose and plan for my life, and 3) His plan involves the entire world and the greater good of bringing more people to himself, not my whims and wishes.

I'll wait on God's timing!