Preparation

Beloved? (hesitant)

There are certain things I can only do for you when I’m not with you, do you know? (tender)

For example, when I want to give you a good gift, I must have the time and space to ponder what that good gift might be—what would bring my beloved the most pleasure, the most hope, the most joy—I wonder. I need to invest myself, at least to some degree, in obtaining or creating said gift. And I delight in its arrival and/or its completion! I want to wrap it perfectly, so that it’s ready to be given to you, my beloved, in what, I hope, is just the right time, in just the right way, with just the right spirit—with the right amount of tenderness and adoration and shared expectancy. I greatly anticipate giving you good gifts, beloved—so great is my joy!

If I was with you all the time, it would be much more difficult to focus on determining what would be a meaningful gift, the very best way I might go about attempting to show you my immense and ever-expanding love for you, do you see, beloved? (tender, hopeful) I couldn’t very well create it or obtain it or wrap it if you never left my side. (gentle) And there would be no anticipation, my love, for you would have seen the gift already, every step of the way—there would be no element of surprise, no moment of glory when I revealed it to you for the first time and I watched your face to try to gauge your reaction, to see if all my efforts had pleased you, my precious one. Do you see what I’m trying to say, beloved? Do you see my heart in this? (tender, hopeful)

There are a number of verses in Scripture which speak of preparing—preparing food (Genesis 27:7), preparing sacrifices (Numbers 23:29), preparing a place (Exodus 23:20), making preparations for building (I Chronicles 28:2). Our Lord, He prepares the rain (Psalm 147:8) and prepares praise from the mouths of children (Matthew 21:16) He sends people before Him to prepare His way (Isaiah 40:3). He has prepared a kingdom for us from the foundation of the world (Matthew 25:34). And ultimately, beloved, Christ Himself has gone before us to prepare a place for us; He tells us: ‘And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to Myself, that where I am you may also be.’ We read in 1 Corinthians 2:9: ‘…No eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what He has prepared for those who love Him.’ And in II Corinthians 4:17: ‘For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.’ In Hebrews 11:16, we hear that He has prepared for His people of faith, a city. And we hear talk of this city again in Revelation 21:2: ‘And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.’

Perhaps this all sounds and feels a bit repetitive, beloved? (gentle, slightly playful) But here is what I hope we will remember: Preparation must always precede the ‘main event,’ yes? Growing, dicing, cooking the food must precede the feast. Raising and nurturing the animal must precede the sacrificing of it. Gathering and creating the materials for building must precede the formation of a structure. Dreaming up the gift and then taking whatever steps necessary to be able to present it humbly, excitedly to one’s beloved precedes the actual giving of that good gift.

This is a time of preparation, beloved—our days here. (gentle) And many things are being prepared, I trust. He is preparing us as individuals—molding and shaping us more and more into His image, I pray, with every ‘prickle,’ every conviction of sin, tiny act of obedience we can muster. He is preparing us for one another, I believe with all my heart—making sure that our Union will be absolutely perfect, that our coming Together will be even more magnificent than we can imagine. And He is preparing to take us into His Love, to dwell with Him forever, in the Place of Shalom.

Like little children who want their supper now, who don’t want to wait until their mother, their Father, has finished preparing it, we too are impatient and wonder when it will be time to ‘eat.’ The time of preparation seems to lag on indefinitely, so hungry and used to being waited on are we. (gentle) But O, beloved—that which is being prepared for us, on our behalf—it’s worth waiting for! O, is it worth waiting for! (giddy, in awe)

And so, we will learn to delight in being given the time and space to ponder, to prepare. Our time ‘apart,’ it’s only ever been for our good and glory, for the good and glory of our beloved. Our Beloved, He intends it to be this way. (tender) He intends to create and obtain and procure the very best for us in order that He might bestow the very best gifts upon us when He is finished. He greatly anticipates our looks of amazement and gratitude, when we, Together—upon receiving His gifts—will throw ourselves into His strong but gentle arms and find perfect tenderness, perfect intimacy, perfect Love There, the likes of which we never even knew existed. O, beloved—may it be so. May it be so. (weeping in joyful expectation)