In Between Snacks

By Danielle Erwin

We’ve all been there.

You rush in the house from a long day of work and life and we are absolutely famished. It seems as though lunch was years ago and you’re so hungry, it’s as if your stomach is touching your back! All you want to do is sit down and eat but dread the preparation and cooking process.

As you’re moving about the kitchen, the smells of what promises to be a deliciously satisfying meal begin to fill the air. Your stomach begins to growl with anticipation; longing to be finally be satisfied and full.

Ignoring the rumbling from your belly, you continue moving about and preparing your meal. Finally, you can’t take it anymore. You’re watching your meal form before your very eyes, yet, your hunger can’t seem to wait a second longer.

So, you make a small snack to tide you over until the meal is ready.

No big deal, right?

When your meal is finally done, you sit down to eat and suddenly…you’re not as hungry as you were before. Your “small snack” filled you up more than you thought it would and your appetite for your well-prepared meal has been diminished. You can’t fully enjoy your meal because you’ve filled yourself up off something else.

Waiting on God to introduce us to our husband can be a lot like the above analogy.

We know beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is an amazing man out there being prepared for us. but … our loneliness and impatience gets the best of us. So, we “snack.”

We need something or someone to tantalize our taste buds or just to “hold us over” while we wait.

We find someone who we know won’t meet the same criteria that our future husband will but, he’ll do for now.

We rush into the arms of someone; anyone…just so long as we don’t have to be alone.

We think it’s harmless.

After all, we go into the relationship knowing that this won’t last. He’s not it. We’re just having fun…right?

What happens when God does bring our future husband onto the scene? Will we be too full from entertaining “seat fillers” that we can’t fully appreciate our future spouse?

You cannot have your hands in both pots.

You cannot say that you are waiting on God yet simultaneously operating off your own agenda.

Snacks are not meant to satisfy you like an entire meal will.

Snacks are designed to quiet your hunger, for a time.

A meal is meant to nourish and to fill.

Snacks are meant to keep small children quiet and occupied.

Meals are meant to bring people together and to create memories.

If you are living your life off snacks…you will never be satisfied. You will always want more and worse, you won’t have room for your meal.

Meals are worth the wait, the preparation and worth ignoring or fighting off the hunger pains for.

Don’t settle for a substitute, be patient enough for the real thing.