After my last post, I felt prompted to write about romance. It is hard to say "guard your heart" and then turn around and talk about romance, but I will try my best. I want to say before I start, for all of my single friends (including myself), that you must view this post through the lenses of guarding your heart. I do not want to talk about romance and stir something in you, and you throw away the advice I previously gave. Nonetheless, romance is one of God's greatest gifts to us, and it is a gift we should steward.
Dictionary.com has it's own version of romance:
1. a romantic spirit, sentiment, emotion, or desire.
2. to invent or relate romances; to indulge in fanciful or extravagant stories or daydreams.
3. to think or talk romantically.
4. to court or woo romantically; treat with ardor or chivalrousness.
5. to court the favor of or make overtures to; play up to.
Going even further in my research, I found these explanations for romance:
1. Love, esp romantic love idealized for it's purity or beauty
2. A spirit of or inclination for adventure, excitement or mystery
I cannot say that I disagree with any of those explanations above. But God has even deeper, even better things to say about love and romance. We find the most absurd, extravagant, wonderful verses in Song of Solomon. I know most single people tend to skip right over Song of Solomon because they feel it doesn't apply to them, or it makes them feel uncomfortable. I was one of those people, until I did a deep study on that book of the bible, and I found that it is much more than just a story of two lovers. It is a story of romance; it holds mysteries and keys to love. I will highlight some of my favorite verses; the ones that really explained to me what true love and romance is really about.
"Like a lily among thorns is my darling among the maidens." -2:2
"Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest is my lover among the young men." 2:3
"Strengthen me with raisins, refresh me with apples, for I am faint with love." 2:5
"My lover spoke and said to me, 'Arise, my darling my beautiful one, and come with me. See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land. The fig tree forms its early fruit; the blossoming vines spread their fragrances. Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me." 2:10-13
"You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride; you have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace. How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much more pleasing is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your perfume than any spice!" 4:9&10
"I belong to my lover, and his desire is for me." 7:10
"Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal over your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame. Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away. If one were to give all the wealth of his house for love, it would be utterly scorned." 8:6&7
Those are the verses that I feel apply specifically to romance and true love. Also, throughout the whole book, she is always saying "do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires." As she is absolutely, 100% falling in love with this man, she is also aware that she must guard her heart, and that her story is a testament of that! They are completely in love with each other; they have found their match. And I'm sure it took patience and a great deal of waiting on her part before they met! And now that they are together, it is almost like the fire cannot die - it just grows and grows; the romance is evident.
My favorite verse out of all of the ones I mentioned, and the one I will elaborate on, is Song of Solomon 2:10-12. The man says to his beloved "come with me!" He says "winter is past; the rains are over and gone." Finally, her season of waiting is over! It is now time for her to give herself completely to her lover! She does not have to wait any longer; this is the season of romance for her! How beautiful is that?!?!
I said earlier that we have to steward the gift of romance. But how do you do that when you're single? I mean, you can't really practice romance with everyone in your life (that would just be super weird and awkward), but there is One person who invites us to share a deep love story with Him every day; to indulge in romance with Him. Jesus. We steward the gift of romance with Him. He teaches us what real love is, what real romance looks like. He speaks words of life into our souls, woos us, calls us to Him, tells us He loves us even when we can't love ourselves. He is the ultimate Lover. I promise, my single friends, if you can learn to live a life of romance and adventure with Jesus first, your love story with your future spouse will be 100 times better than you can imagine. If you let Jesus teach you how to truly love and romance, your future love story will be sweeter than wine. But you must be patient. There will be nights when you are laying in your bed alone, thinking and wishing for that special someone to share your life with. Turn your attention towards Jesus in that moment. Learn to receive from Him first, then you will be able to receive from your one and only one day.
I'm not going to sugar coat it, it will be hard, especially if you have not been in a season of waiting before. If you are used to jumping from relationship to relationship, I think this will be even harder for you. But I promise, it will be absolutely worth it, when you find yourself on your wedding day standing next to the one person you will be with forever, promising to love and cherish one another into eternity. And you will have learned the art of waiting, and you will be able to look into their eyes and say without a doubt "I have waited for you. Even through the long nights, those times when all of my friends were getting married, the days I just wanted to be comforted, the times I didn't know if you would come - I still waited throughout them all." I promise, that is a gift your spouse will appreciate more than any other. So, stick it out! Because it's worth it. And the romance will be even greater.
