Waiting for the Bridegroom

Pray, wait and watch

Matthew 25:1-13

And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming, go out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.”

After spending ten years of only “date Jesus,” a wonderful change was about to happen in my life. He was about to bring me into an earthly romance with a real, living, and breathing man. God in His beautiful, loving way, warned me in advance to prevent me dropping dead in complete shock. He tenderly used scripture to speak to my heart, and inspired me to create a painting. (He deeply blesses me with how He moves in my life…I just love Him for this).

The 10 Virgins~

Our church had a prophecy up date conference with special guest speakers, which included Pastor Chuck Smith. As someone who thoroughly enjoys listening to Chuck Smith’s teaching, I wasn’t about to miss this special conference, so our Friday night Bible study ladies and I all went together. During the teaching, Pastor Chuck Smith referred to the ten virgins in Matthew 25. The five were ready, waiting and watching for their Bridegroom and the other five were not.

That night while I was sleeping I had a dream of a painting. As I woke in the morning, I was overcome with a strong desire to paint what I had seen in my dream, which were the ten virgins! I could hear God speaking, “paint this, pray, wait and watch”. “Ok, Lord, I will.”

Within minutes, I took off to buy a canvas and paints. Next to the art supply store, I walked into one of my favorite shops I loved to visit, and my mouth dropped to the floor. “Oh my goodness! There they were…..the lamps the ten virgins were holding in my dream!” Without hesitating, I purchased ten of them! Why? I had no idea why I was buying them, but I did. It was quite the juggling act putting ten boxes of lamps, a large canvas, and paint all in my car. But I did it! As soon as I arrived home I began painting. I couldn’t help myself; I had to paint! Crazy, when it’s from God, it flows. I knew without a doubt, this was God. As I was painting, God spoke to my heart the word “parallel”. “Parallel?” “What?”

“There is a parallel… of bridegrooms. While you pray Tammy, and wait and watch for your heavenly Bridegroom Jesus, I also want you to pray, wait and watch for your earthly bridegroom. He is coming soon, be prepared.”

I dropped the paintbrush in disbelief, and thought no way! I was utterly astonished and amazed. I must not have heard Him correctly. “Lord, I cried out, “it’s been over ten years without a date, and I’m finally content with just you and me. Are You sure? Am I hearing things? Are you sure? Parallel!?! Bridegroom! What!?!”

I know from experience the Lord leads and guides us with His Word. Psalm 32:8 reads, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye.” Psalm 119:133 begins with the words, “Direct my steps with Your word”; this is always my prayer for the day. Psalm 119:105 states, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

I know His Word says His sheep follow him, for they know his voice (John 10:4). God deeply cares about every detail of your life and mine. He goes before you, preparing the way, as Proverbs 3:6 so clearly states, “In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” I encourage you to keep looking to God for the answers, and He will reveal them to you. I love the words David wrote in Psalm 65:11, “Your paths drip with abundance.” Even more wonderful, is our heavenly Father is sovereign, and graciously guides us to the right path. Solomon wrote: “In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps” (Proverbs 16:9). The book of Isaiah also tells us, “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it’” (Isaiah 30:21). His Word truly is the lamp to our feet and a light for our path.

Scripture reveals to us The Bridegroom will come at midnight. The Bridegroom is Jesus returning to invite us to our wedding banquet, and our true home. The Lord calls us to be prepared and ready while we wait for His return, as we do not know the day or the hour. This is compared to a bride on her wedding day prepared and ready to receive her groom. To be prepared and ready for His return is to simply love Jesus. Love Him with all your heart, mind and soul; I promise this will keep your lamp burning. Then when Jesus, the true bridegroom comes, you will be one of the five virgins ready to receive Him.

The world is getting darker and darker. Be careful. It pulls you and will take you where you do not belong. Stay alert to all of Satan’s little temptations that would keep you from your closeness with God. The world has a perverted idea about what singles or even married couples should do with their time. It will steal, and rob you-guaranteed! It’s a total waste of time, trust me I know, I wasted 20 years of my life.

The most heartbreaking thing I’ve observed; is beautiful, sweet young women looking, (or better word hunting) for a man to be with, trying to fill the empty void in their lives and in their hearts. I can promise you it will continue to remain void-nothing. Nothing is there. Only Jesus can fill the void.

Also, for those of you who are married, don’t make the tragic mistake of putting your husband on the throne of your heart, where only Jesus belongs. Yes, love your husband, honor and respect him but don’t worship him. You will be setting him up for failure if you do. Your husband is only a man, and a sinner at that. He can never love you like Jesus. He is learning just like the rest of us to become more like Jesus, and to love like He does. But he is not God.

Single ladies trust God to set up your match in His perfect time. He will. The cool thing is when God is setting up your romance; you don’t have to do a thing. It just “happens”. He knows what His plan is for you. You are very important to Him and you matter to Him, so why wouldn’t He want to give you His plan for your life. Nothing can stop Him from blessing you with the one He has for you, except you. Romans 12:12 says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may approve what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Waiting for God’s choice and His plan is worth it. I am telling you the truth! Wow! It’s right, when it’s from God’s hand. Waiting is the hardest thing to do as a woman, I know, I hear you. But I can tell you from a woman who decided to wait…it’s worth it!!!! But more importantly keep your heart fixed on Jesus…then crazy enough… the rest just works out. It’s so important to be content in only Jesus. And remember God is working on your behalf, even when you think He is not.

While waiting, be in obedience to Him. Serve Him; there is so much you can do for the Lord. This will also keep you from a self-focused life; instead it will be a beautiful one full of love for others. Worship Him with your love for others but know that this can’t be done unless you love Him. This leads to a peaceful, fulfilling, joyful and complete life. There is no greater love then Jesus.

I did start praying, waiting, and watching even though I had a hard time believing it was time for my earthly bridegroom. I wrote prayers in my journal, I wrote poems about “parallel” man. I even changed my password on my computer to “Parallel”. Everything was parallel, parallel. I know I’m a hopeless romantic. Thank God He loves me this way.

And then…it happened…I met Frank two months later (remember this is after ten years of waiting with no dating). My sister knew His brother and wife. They tricked me into attending my niece’s (whom I do anything for) gymnastics practice, which Frank’s niece also participated in. My sister knows me well, and knew not to say anything to me if she was going to get me there. Apparently Frank’s brother drove by his house as he was mowing the lawn and said, “Get in”. “Wait, can’t I take a shower?” “Hurry”!

So… in walked this couple whom I had never met, along with a gentleman walking behind them. The couple was very friendly and talkative. I started making paper airplanes with my nephew when I noticed this gentleman was making them too. OH MY GOSH!!!! I got up…walked outside, paced a bit, then texted my close friend, “Ter…omgosh…I think my sister Bobbie is setting me up! Terry asked excitedly, “Cool-what does he look like?” I said, “Euro, could be Italian.” She responded, “Cool- is he hairy?” “What!?” “I don’t know if he is hairy!!!”

I was so incredibly messed up from being… first-shocked… then nervous because I knew my sister Bobbie would not do this to me if she didn’t know him. I had to go back in, and give it a chance, even though I was jumping out of my skin, and desperately wanting to run for cover. I found …I was pleasantly surprised… by how comfortable he was to be around, he felt… familiar. We all went to lunch together, then coffee, more coffee, then an outdoor concert. None of this was planned by the way…it just happened. I will admit my heart was stirred but I will also admit, I sure didn’t make it easy on the guy, but he thankfully hung in there. As I kept the gentleman and myself in prayer, I didn’t go on a date with him for about 3 months. During the three month time period, I had a little party with my closest friends and family. At the party, I gave out the ten lamps I had purchased, and asked the ten ladies to please pray with me…I may have met “him”.

Finally, Frank and I went to church together. I informed Pastor Ray he was coming, and asked if he could please meet him. He replied, “Ok, but don’t bring him up front, this will freak him out. Go up stairs for coffee, and I will nonchalantly walk by and sit down with you guys”. Ok, perfect plan. We sat in back of the church, my usual spot during service. He tried to sit close to me, but I moved away. He’d move close again, and I’d move away again. What was too close for me was nothing short of an imaginary person between us. He finally gave up sitting close to me, and thought I wasn’t interested in him until …I pulled out a rose I had pressed in my journal from a bouquet he had sent me earlier in the week. As he looked at this pressed rose he said, “Well… maybe there is a “parallel”. “WHAT!? Did he just say…”PARALLEL!?” Of all the words he could have used, he said, “parallel!!!!” No, no this must be a coincidence…wait…I don’t believe in coincidence…hmmmm.

Without any knowledge of the ten virgins painting or the portion of scripture which reads, “Your Bridegroom will come at midnight”, Frank proposed to me on Christmas evening. There were countless stars overhead, along with a full moon illuminating the sand we stood on as we shared this special moment together. The most amazing thing though, is …it “happened” at midnight, exactly to the second! The wonder of the hour, and us not even thinking about it, God was writing our love story.

After Frank’s beautiful proposal we both knelt down and prayed, and offered our relationship to the Lord to do with as He wills. We then had communion together in front of my fireplace, and prayed again. It was then I shared the painting story with Frank. When I came to the portion of scripture which reads, “Your Bridegroom will come at midnight”, we were both awe struck, and realized Frank had proposed at midnight. We both started crying. How would Frank know to propose at midnight? I never told him or anyone for that matter about the painting or scripture. It wasn’t even his plan to propose at the midnight hour. But God knew. God also knew I needed this confirmed with His Word. He did just this. I had to be sure it was God. Frank bought a wedding gown, invited the ten virgins, my friends that just “happened” to have a lamp, and this romantic man threw me a surprise wedding! Oh and guess what time the wedding was? We were married at midnight. He wanted to honor Jesus our heavenly Bridegroom. Parallel= Jesus and my new found beloved Frank. I love how the Lord relates the bride and groom relationship to Jesus the Bridegroom, and us His bride. I adore and love my relational God. So hopefully you will continue with me to: