While I'm Waiting

Waiting isn't easy (at least not for me). At all.

I have made a commitment to purity until marriage, and I'm finding it's harder than I thought. Because, though I haven't been tempted to lose my purity at this point, I have been tempted to compromise. 

I want to save myself for my future spouse (if I am going to have one). For me, this means dressing modestly, staying away from dating until I'm old enough to match it with commitment, and literal sexual purity. 

It's harder than I thought. I've had people flirt with me, and I've wanted to ask them out, be flirty, wear "special" clothes when they're around, etc. It's difficult not to give into those temptations sometimes. 

I know that, even if I start out with just a "cute" little guy-girl relationship, it could lead to further compromises and struggles down the road, and it would get me a little too comfortable with dating. 

So I've decided that, while I'm waiting, I'll praise God. God is preparing something for me so much greater than I could possibly imagine, better than anything I could plan on my own.

"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV) 

I just went on a work retreat with my youth group, and the messages were centered on worship. We talked about how we can (and should) worship anywhere--how our work itself was worship. We can worship while we suffer, while we are happy, while we are weary, while we are working, while we are waiting.

Our lives themselves should be worship. People should look at us and wonder what is different about us--they should want what we have. And we should be willing to tell them what we have--a wonderful, personal, deep and amazing relationship with our Lord, Jesus Christ.

~Elizabeth