What I'll Do While I Wait

"Once Upon a time a lovely princess lived in a castle in a far off land. Her father, who was the King, had only one daughter, and he loved the princess more than life itself. As she grew older, the King became more and more feeble until one day, he summoned the princess to his bedside. "My Daughter," he began in a voice so quiet she could barely understand him. "Too long have I waited for this moment! But now I shall not waste any more time. Here is a most precious book." the King said, waving his wasted hand at a thick volume upon the table. "In it you will find all the instructions you will need for your entire life. But most importantly, read this book before your prince comes. It will teach you to recognize the words and instructions of the Guide that will take you and your prince on a long, long, journey upon your marriage. You could even say that your life now is part of the plan. Your job is to read the words and treasure them. Act upon them, and never let them escape you while you wait." with those last words, the King lost his strength, and fell into a deep sleep that he would never wake from.
The next few weeks were a great trial for the princess. She was lonely, and wished more than ever that her prince would come. At first, she obeyed her father's counsel, and read the instructions in the book. But soon, the book gathered dust upon her shelf, and the princess grew accustomed to not reading it. "After all." she reasoned. "I consider myself an educated young woman. I can play the harp, speak French and German, read Italian, sing, and do needlework. I don't need any other instructions!"
And so the princess went about her days waiting for her prince. She certainly was faithful in waiting- she pledged not her heart to any other knight that came along. All day, from the earliest pinking of the Eastern sky to the last orange glow above the mountains in the West, she watched and waited for her lover. At last the day came! The princess watched with tears of joy in her eyes as the handsome prince rode up the tree-lined lane and through the castle gate.
The moment she had waited for all this time! I shall not intrude upon the further acquaintance of the two lovers, but after the glorious wedding, it became apparent that something was terribly wrong- The prince had long prepared for this journey that has been mentioned, but he found that his wife, even though he loved her, was not in the least bit prepared. She lacked any useful skill that could be of help, and she was not accustomed to hard work. But the worst part of the whole thing, was that the princess was not familiar with the voice and instructions of the Guide, and could not help the prince discern which was the right way to choose when it became a matter of great importance to chose the correct path."


I wrote the above to show a case of a young woman waiting faithfully for her prince whoever it may be, but who lacked something very important.

Oftentimes we as young ladies think that waiting is the only thing to do during these unmarried years. But we are not called to wait idly. We must develope a close relationship with our Guide, growing in His ways and learning to look to Him for advice in everything. Next, we must gather and learn character traits and skills that will be useful to us someday. How disappointed my prince would be to find that all I had done literally was wait for him! I will be of little use as a help-meet to my husband if all I do is sit here twiddling my thumbs! These years are precious to us girls! This a very unique season that will never happen in our lives again. We are under our father's protection and roof, we have abundant time and energy, and as 1 Corinthians 7:34 says, "An unmarried woman or a virgin is concerned about the Lord's affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of the world-- how she can please her husband."
I feel the need to be a good steward of these years, and I don't want to look back, if the Lord doesn't have marriage for me, and realize that I wasted time just idly waiting! Waiting is good, but productive waiting is best! I want to encourage other girls and myself to store up God's word, and other skills during this time. I am waiting joyfully for my prince, and I hope he is pleased with the helpmeet I'll be for him whenever he comes!
I've just been thinking about this recently, and I hope the little illustration in the corner will appear. (It has a little red "x" on it right now. -Rachel - feel free to leave comments! :)