A Letter of Love

Dear Sisters,

Do you want what you’re preparing for your future? Every step, every little minute of our lives is a building block—every trial, yes, but everything else as well—the friends we choose, the thoughts we let our minds entertain, yes, those too shape us imaginably for our future, both in this life and for all eternity. We have been given life, sisters; I wish I could impress upon you the seriousness that I feel that is in this responsibility to live. I am sure I do not, can not, understand it fully and expect to grasp the meaning more clearly as I grow older. But even now I can see it is serious to be given life. Once we have life, we will live forever—in heaven or hell. We cannot escape existence once we are alive. If our physical bodies are killed, we live on—forever. Forever is a word that escapes the mind—we can not fathom forever, but forever is there, and we are preparing for our forever. Surely this ought to be a great weight on us how we handle life and what we allow our minds to think and do, for everything is simply preparation blocks for tomorrow’s forever. We must surely realize that this great task of preparation is much too big for us! Thankfully, we were never meant to go alone through life, but were to take a Guide who knows the route perfectly and will lead us safely home. It is only our part to lean closely to our loving Guide, to listen for His still, small voice. Many have said the voice is not there and charted their own path recklessly, ending in sorrow and torment; but He is there, ready and waiting to lead those who will become still enough to hear Him. I am trusting God to help me pen the words in this letter to you, for the subject is a difficult and delicate subject and I greatly desire God’s help to express the burden I feel.

Through our childhood, we have (or more accurately, our parents have) been building, as said beforehand, to make the person we are now. Now that we young ladies have entered the teenage years, well-termed “the unsettled years”—we have broached upon a place where we are making the most critical decisions of life, building the most fundamental parts of our lives—what we believe—coming to the place of realizing why we are here and what we are supposed to do. We have all experienced childhood ideals, but very little of these dreams comes to fruition. Are we going to waste our girlhood dreaming useless dreams as well? It is the place of childhood to imagine and explore, hopefully managed properly with an understanding mother and father, guiding and shaping the little mind. But now is not the time to dream and build air castles. Now is the time, the critical time, for preparation for the battles and trials of the adult life God has wisely planned for our course, if we heed His direction.

Back to childhood for a moment. For most of us, as little girls we loved our baby dolls, playing that we were cooking and washing clothes—being little Mamas. God put this desire into us, and it is sweet and precious to see this quality in little girls. If you get a group of girls together that are undamaged emotionally, they will almost always want to “play house.” This is important preparation, though the girls do not realize it. How little girls respond to their dolls is how they will respond to their children. Little girls ought to spend a great portion of their time playing house—it is preparation for the God-given role God has called them to fulfill.

When a girl gets a little older, attraction to the opposite gender is aroused and she begins to think of boys—termed by the world, “predating time.” For those who are more conservative, this is the time when courtship is introduced, and the girls are told that someday they will have a husband, but must wait until they are older and God brings it about. This seems exciting—waiting at home until a knight on a white horse comes and sweeps you up and off you go, knowing that it is God’s perfect match for you. As the years roll by and this doesn’t happen, fantasy dreams come to make up for disappointing realility. If a girl really had the vision that God would provide in His timing, the unrealistic and extremely romantic dreams hinder that vision, to say the least. It takes more than a trust in God that He will provide—that vision is needed—it takes the consecration that if God wills, you are willing to go without God providing the dearly longed, loved and looked for—a husband and family of your own. You cannot dream of romanticism and keep a consecration of that sort in your heart. It is impossible. To wait on God and not enter the dating game—physically or mentally—takes this real consecration to trust God that He is working out His purpose, whether it is what we want or not. Whether we see things “happening” or not. We must, “look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”* (2 Corinthians 4:18) However, we don’t float into looking at unseen things and consecrating of our futures to God, laying all at His dear feet. It takes work, tears, denying of self and a lot of letting go… and letting God. Letting go of dreams, air castles we hold dear, letting go of what is naturally ours to have. Too many never come to this place. Because they never “get it,” and since they don’t believe in “the dating game,” something must take place of the natural flesh that craves attention. This is where romance novels and other such junk comes in. “Christian” romance novels are a tool of the devil. These books stimulate the mind in a remarkably ungodly way so that you can date continually in your mind without even going out physically to do it. The devil has fixed it so that on the outside girls can testify that they are waiting for God to give them companions, but on the inside, in the privacy of their thoughts, they attend balls and dances and date around as much as any worldly person. Many girls justify that it doesn’t hurt—it is just “fantasy” after all. Many, filled with fear that God will never provide, are enslaved and no more trust God with providing a husband than an atheist does. Block upon block, they build their lives with the stubble that dating brings, all the while professing they do not believe in what they are doing. Actions speak louder then words. Time flies and every minute we prepare for our future whether or not we perceive it—discontentment, fairy-tell living, distrust, wasted time, and a lot of other “straw, hay and stubble” are built. Many girls build divorce into their lives years before they are married. Hours, days, weeks, months, years are spent in profitless building. Dear friends, if we are put here for a purpose, how can we use our time in such a manner? Why would we want to waste our time this way? Many don’t. Many actually long to really be all the Lord’s, and to trust in Him completely for their future. They long to be consecrated and to possess the blessing that comes when we cannot say yes or no, but only, “whatsoever the Lord wills, so be it done unto me.” If so many people long for it, then why don’t we have a whole lot of consecrated people, an example and glorifying God? Is it that God doesn’t want to give us a full trust in Him? The very statement denies itself. God has said that “no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.”* (Psalm 84:11) The fault cannot lie with God. It must be with us.

There is a portion in one of Brother C. E. Orr’s books* that gives an illustration on why people aren’t more spiritual. He likened it to looking at a pair of shoes for sale. You like the shoes—you want to buy them. But the price is high. Let’s say $100—that is a lot of money. However, you really, really, want the shoes—you know you need them, in fact, will probably perish without them—the person selling them says he wants you to have them too, but you walk away without buying the shoes. Why? You want them; the person selling it wants you to have the shoes; why didn’t you get them? There is something you want more: the $100. You must surrender that if you are to get the shoes, and that you are unwilling to do. The price is what stands between you and wearing those much-needed shoes.

It is the same with us. God wants us to be consecrated—He wants our entire will for our future, but there is a price. He knows how good it would be for us to give it to Him. But before our receiving of the blessing, we must pay the price. Too many are unwilling to pay the price. They would rather shuffle their ragged feet, torn and bleeding; rather read the novels and indulge in unprofitable thoughts, untrust, and worldly matter. They know their way is not best, but they would rather follow it anyway because the price would cost them all they enjoy. They would rather have the fun, not really realizing they are missing the peace and joy.

A woman said to my mother the other day, “When my husband gets off, I just straighten him right up.”

My mother replied, “It is much better to let God straighten him out—He knows what He is doing.”

She responded, “Yes, it is, but God doesn’t get to him as fast as I do.”

Girls, are we going to be like that? Are we going to say, “God’s way is best, but I don’t want to wait—I don’t want to pay the price; God isn’t fast enough. He isn’t bringing any one along to court me. God has forgotten me! I’m going to miss out! I better help God out a little—if I don’t read these books, I won’t know how to relate to a man.” Or: “It doesn’t hurt to nourish a ‘crush’—it is only in the mind. God has promised us to have abundant life, and if I can’t do it in real life, I can at least imagine it! No one will ever know—I’ll just have a little fun before God gets around to bringing me a companion.” Oh, dear girls, how can you waste your God-given life? How can we ever say that God’s price is too high to pay? Our ways may have some infatuations that are “fun”; but it is not God’s way and will never end with God’s blessing. The way our flesh would choose may seem pleasant, but for however long they may seem good, there will come a day when all pleasure of sin will vanish away as the grass that fadeth. God’s way is best because it ends best.

As a personal testimony: when I was nine, I read several romance novels from the library—I was fascinated. My older sister read them, with caution, and my father allowed that, but he forbade me to read them. I quit, and was glad I did when the Lord saved me later that year, but the contents of those books linger with me yet and I have fought untold battles concerning them. For years, not having a good hold of trusting God, I “dated” in my mind. I really struggled at times, knowing that this was not the best. But it was fascinating to me. One day in my devotions I was praying, why was it so hard for me to stay consecrated in my mind and heart? Why couldn’t I meet a man without analyzing him to see if he would make a good husband? This was not trust in God, and I truly desired to get the victory. Opening up my Bible, my eyes fell on the scripture; “Why art thou wroth? And why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door.”* (Genesis 4:6-7) It was so true that I felt speechless. It was so very clear, so very simple. My dear sisters, if we are struggling with something in our lives; if we cannot come to a point of consecration, is there not a cause? There was with me. Yes, true as always, sin lay at the door of my problem. All the tears, all the sleepless nights I spent in vain trying to find an answer to why I didn’t have the victory—why certain thoughts I knew were wrong plagued me; it all boiled down to one clear thing; at the bottom, veiled securely, I really actually enjoyed the entertaining thoughts that wanted to abide in my heart—it was fun to not trust God, though at times, it was absolute misery. It takes the Lord to reveal our condition to ourselves. I had tried my royal best to be consecrated, to lay down my will and replace it with God’s perfect one, but in the end, it takes Jesus to show us what hinders and it takes Him to remove the hindrances after we’re willing to pay the price. It took Jesus to deliver me from myself. But praise the Lord, He did! He is able. It is a blessing to trust and know that He doeth all things well. That is what our preparation comes down to, my sisters, is simply leaving ourselves into His hands. Paying the price, giving it all up and then, simply resting! Just,

Leaning on the arms of Jesus,
Oh, it is so sweet and precious!
He will surely bless and keep us,
Calmly resting free from care.

Leaning, leaning,
Safely on the arms of Jesus,
I’m leaning, yes, leaning,
Leaning on the arms of Jesus.*

I had in mind to write much more—on some of the practical aspects of preparation, but I feel now that this is all God wants me to share at this time. What a blessing it is to know that when we are fully consecrated to God’s will, we do not have to worry about things—anything. When He says go, we go; when He says stop, we stop. He is the Master, and we are the willing servant. As servants we can experience full, pure joy and peace when being at home with our Lord and Master. We don’t have to worry about food or clothing or relationships or any such thing. We do not have to be fearful that we are on the wrong path, or that God will leave us lonely and in the dark. It is good to be at home with Father in His loving care. Will you not come home, too?

Let us sing a sweet song of the home of the soul,
The glorious place of our rest;
It is not far away in the heavens untold,
But deep in the Infinite breast.

He that dwelleth in love ever dwelleth in God,
Sweet home never clouded by fears,
And this heaven of love is our native abode;
Through time and eternity’s years.

We are only at home in the bosom of God,
On earth or in heaven above;
Everyone who would enter must pass through the blood,
And reign in the kingdom of love.

Do not venture the hope that is waiting for death
To waft you to comfort and peace;
There’s no rest for a soul, in this world or above,
Not saved in the Father’s embrace.

We will enter no door that is opened by men
Who promise a home for the soul;
For in Christ we abide, in the church that will stand
While ages eternally roll.

Refrain:

I’m at home, blessed home,
I am safe in the bosom Divine;
Oh, the home of the soul,
Thy heaven of glory is mine.*

Looking unto Jesus,
A sister in Christ