Waiting to be awakened
I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, Do not stir up nor awaken love until it pleases. Song of Solomon 8:4
Romantic love can be like an avocado that looks ripe on the outside but is still unripe inside. Sometimes we take the fruit too early, missing the pleasure and nutrients.
Love, especially romantic love, is as strong as death (Song 8:6) and cannot easily be controlled. Solomon repeated this verse three times in Song of Songs: "do not awaken love until it pleases.". Solomon is aware that we can put our romantic loves before God in our hearts. We should not suppress our feelings or deny our desire for romantic love. The verse teaches us to let love develop naturally and mature in its own time, since we often force it to ripen and it happens “too fast and too soon.”
When the fruit is not yet ripe, we are told to “wait and watch ”. Song of Songs depicts the garden as a symbol of our sexuality, and we are told to watch over our garden until the time comes when our garden is open to our spouse in full bloom. Sexuality is God's divine design that serves as a superglue between a husband and a wife as it has physical, emotional, and spiritual ramifications. However, when love is awakened too early, it invites little foxes that represent sins that ruin the garden. (Song 2:15)
As we invite Jesus to wait and watch, He can tend and mend every broken part of our garden. Along with watching our garden, God helps us focus on the heavenly reality instead of the earthly frustration. In some ways, we tend to focus on past hurts and relationships, especially false love that happened "too soon", making us being the "relational fatalists", that we may feel hopeless during the waiting period. Don't deny love in our lives, for God is love, and He can fill the deepest void that we yearn for the perfect love. The heart of God is to restore us from brokenness, and His love is capable of bringing healing and redemption.
When the time is right, it may happen “too soon”. My friend told me how their parents met, it was sort of an arranged marriage because the mother identified a young man attending her daughter's concert, so the parents arranged the meeting and let the two walked on the beach, while the parents watched over them from afar, so they got to know each other and were given choices to get married or not, they chose love and got married in 2 weeks and they love each other until the end.
The story touched me and made me see Jesus watched over us so we can enjoy romantic love with holiness and pure affection. Love can’t be forced before the proper time, may we surrender our hearts and desires to Jesus.
Blessing prayer: You have made everything beautiful in its time. You will awaken love at the right time with the right person. In Jesus' name Amen
