We’ve all experienced that intense feeling or at least seen it in others before. Your heart flutters, you suddenly develop a crippling stutter and your eyes always wander towards that person without your conscious consent. It’s incredibly awkward.

I have an entire process. First, I actually have to admit that I like someone. It’s hard for me to come to terms with feelings like that. Other things just seem to be more important than paying attention to what I consider a fleeting crush. I brush it off as a phase and just ignore it until it goes away.

But when I can’t just brush it off, that’s when the crush becomes unavoidable. Suddenly, I’m overly aware of how I act around the person. This is when all I can think about is that ever-elusive question: to be or not to be silent?

Maybe the feelings are so unavoidable that I must let the other person know. But usually I refuse to say anything at all. I once thought that crushes and the will-they-or-won’t-they suspense was just a part of life — something you had to go through — until I came across a reading in the Bible.

One day, Jesus was talking to His disciples and said, “Can any of you live a bit longer by worrying about it? If you can’t manage even such a small thing, why worry about the other things?” (Luke 12:25-26). Jesus was telling them not to worry about their food and clothes, but I think it can apply to any sort of dilemma.

By these terms, Jesus is telling me that if it’s meant to be then He will make a way. There’s no sense of working myself up in the meantime.

I’m not saying that we won’t have to worry ever again because that’s not realistic. But maybe surrendering our anxieties is step one.

Step two is to pray and wait for the right opportunities because the first relationship we all need to work on is the one we have with God. We forget that He loved us first.

Further into Jesus’ speech, He says, “Your Father knows that you need these things. Instead, be concerned with His Kingdom, and He will provide you with these things” (Luke 12:30-31). In other words, God provides. He knows our hearts and therefore, He knows what our hearts deserve.

I guess if romance is meant to happen, it’ll happen in its own time. I just need to trust in God and have patience. If I truly believe that God’s plans for me are plans to help me prosper (Jeremiah 29:11), then I shouldn’t be afraid of where I’m being led.