Mary’s Mission: Worth the Wait
“Are you too struggling in the waiting season of your life? If so, trust me when I say that His plan and His timing for you is perfect and that He most certainly hears your cries and sees your tear-stained face. ”
I have wanted to be married since I was eight years old. My dream as a young girl was to be just like my mom, married at 19 and a mom at 20. I wanted to be a homemaker and a mom of four. Looking back now, I am very happy that I did not marry at 19 years old because my then-boyfriend was definitely not the one! I am glad I went to college and experienced my independence but secretly I wanted my “Mrs.” degree. At the ripe old age of 22, I found myself lost and confused about what God wanted me to do. I did not understand why all my friends found their husbands in college and were now on their way to the altar, meanwhile I felt like I was floating in the wind waiting for someone to ground me. I had no idea then that my person would not come for another 22 years (and that he was only 16 years old at that time).
The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. Lamentations 3:25
As Christians, we know that God’s plan for our life is perfect. We also know that His timing is perfect, yet we often find ourselves restless and confused in the waiting period. I spent years searching for “the one,” years yearning for him, years wondering why God had forgotten about me. I wasted precious time seeing only the lack in my life that lead to anger and bitterness. I must confess brothers and sisters; I was not a patient waiter. My 35th birthday, to date, was one of the worst ones for me. In my then 35-year-old mind, it was all over. I was still single and childless and feeling very hopeless. I was angry with God for keeping me single and as a result, I struggled in my faith. I felt isolated and like “one of those things that don’t belong.” Being a southern girl who was never married and childless at 35-years-old felt weird and uncomfortable. I truly did not understand why He allowed me to suffer, why He was not giving me what I wanted, why He was not hearing my cries or seeing my tear-stained face.
Have you ever felt this way? Are you feeling this way now? Are you too struggling in the waiting season of your life? If so, trust me when I say that His plan and His timing for you is perfect and that He most certainly hears your cries and sees your tear-stained face. What I did not realize then is that God was walking with me the entire time. He was there by my side waiting patiently for me to turn to Him and surrender. He was waiting for me to see all that He had given me instead of what He had not yet given. He was waiting for me to fall into His arms and allow Him to wipe away my tears. Although my life got much better as I neared 40, I would not fully surrender to Him until age 44.
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. James 4:10
I would not trade my walk with God for anything in the world. I am very grateful God did not give up on me when I was giving up on Him. I very grateful I eventually fully surrendered to Him because had I not, I am not sure I would have allowed Ryan (my now husband) into my life. As stated earlier, God’s plan is perfect. He knew from the moment He formed me in my mother’s womb that Ryan was my person. He knew that Ryan would be six and a half years younger than me and that he would need much more convincing because, (unlike me), he had no plans for marriage. God knew every moment of my life that he would bring Ryan to me at the perfect time and He most certainly did.
On April 16, 2016, I finally received my “Mrs.” degree. Ryan and I recently celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary and I must say, just because I am a marriage counselor does not mean I got this! Marriage is challenging, messy, frustrating, and sometimes downright hard. However, when God is the center of it, marriage is beautiful, sacred, and worth the wait. But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” Mark 10:6-9
