Waiting for a Chance at Love

Shivering gratefully outside of a Metro station, I wondered if love might be like my Amtrak train– that if we’re willing to wait upfront, we’re less likely to wait on the back-end. Maybe awaiting love’s arrival is better than already possessing it and then waiting for it to finally ‘pull out of the station.’ Oftentimes, games, confusion, and doubt accompany premature love. I hope that my willingness to wait now will move things along more purposefully and conveniently when I fall in love the next time. Not to say that I will run to the altar, but that there should be a certain level of understanding, maturity, and delicate handling of hearts when one has been patient enough to wait before embarking on the journey of love.

What if prayers for love were as simple as the one I uttered about my train ride: absent all the instruction? How much more at peace might we be, and how much more room might God have to work without our interference? It might take longer than expected, but what if, with our limited knowledge, we don’t realize that His is the most convenient route?

As Luther sang, “Sometimes love takes a long time.” A long time like sitting in a crowded train station as strangers from all walks of life cross your path. A long time like anxiously watching for signs of its arrival. But it beats spending that same amount of time standing in frigid temps when love has dropped you off and there is nothing waiting for you on the other end.

In the eight chapters of the Song of Solomon, one phrase appears three times: “do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires” (NIV 2:7). While there are different translations and interpretations, the importance of timing is clear. Additionally, Ecclesiastes 3 reminds us that “there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens,” even love. And then there is Luther, rounding out the afore-mentioned lyrics: “Wait for love, and you’re gonna get your chance to love.”

We all get chances at love. The challenge comes in recognizing the chance, having the courage to take it, and having the perseverance to commit to it. But we all get chances, if we wait for love.

I’m starting off Valentine’s Day weekend thinking about love, but not in the anxious, pacing-the-floors sort of way. I am simply bobbing my head to smooth tunes, waiting for a chance.

At some point in the distant future, I’ll blog about chances in love, particularly how we fail to recognize them and struggle to take them. One day, when I’m ready 😉

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