"You cannot give what you do not have," said Pastor Ryan as Mervin and I slowly took the two vacant seats beside my cousin at a function room in McDonald's where the youth service was held last Valentine's Day. I noticed that all the outreach leaders were wearing this white t-shirt with "Can't Hurry Love" printed on it. The room was cozy but a bit noisy with about a hundred teenagers and college students present that night. As I took my seat, Pastor Ryan immediately caught my attention with what he was discussing. He was emphasizing the value of waiting for the right person God has prepared for each one. I appreciate his message very much that night that I was almost brought to tears as I thought about my struggles with my emotions this past month. "Don't hurry love, you are worth the wait." He then encouraged us to take a stand that night, to be proud that we will wait for the right time and for the right person. He asked people to stand up if they were willing to remain pure until that person and that time will come. I stood up with little hesitation, although I knew it was a big step for me to take considering how I obsessed over my crush this past few weeks. Remaining pure was out of the question, but the waiting part needs a lot of focus and energy for me to actually do.
Another of Pastor Ryan's points that struck me the most was how impossible it was to give what you don't have. Love, he said, is founded on God and He displayed that love by sending His Son to die on the Cross. God's very nature is love, and we will never know what love is if we don't know who God is. We will never know who God is if we don't have a relationship with Him. The "love" that this world is so engrossed with is fleeting and based primarily on emotions. It is selfish in such a way that people look for it to satisfy their emotional needs. No, nothing is wrong with that, but then love should never be like that.
It is extremely important to wait. When do we know it's the "right time" and when do we know that we are ready to enter into a relationship? Maybe it's not the same for everyone, but for me, it's when I've already become mature in my relationship with God and found true love that only He can give. Then will I be able to share it unconditionally with the person God has prepared for me. Manang Sharon said to me once, "Adam has to sleep while God is forming Eve." So I guess you really can't hurry love- you're (or I'm) worth the wait!
