Recently, the Lord has been teaching me more about what it looks like to be His bride. Marriage was designed as an expression of the relationship between Christ and the Church. However, for me personally and for us as a society, that imagery that was designed to to help us deeply relate the Christ has been distorted.
For me, marriage often meant that when life didn't go right or unexpected problems naturally arose, there was someone right there with me to get angry at me about it. It meant unclear expectations that I was expected to live up to. It meant my mistakes were magnified. It meant being responsible for things beyond my control and beyond my ability to fix, but also having a debt for which I could never be satisfactorily thankful for the things than were done for me or given to me.
Many others, in fact I expect that a majority of others, have had equally distorted experiences (either their own or within their family). I say this because arguably around 40%-50% of marriages end in divorce. Of those that remain married, it is doubtful that all of them are experiencing God's best for their marriage. Additionally, many couples live together without entering into the a commitment covenant of marriage. I once overheard the explanation that "My girlfriend knows that if she gets too comfortable and does not take care of herself, I'll leave. I would expect her to do the same." Media and culture normalize the low expectations for commitment and enduring selfless relationships.
All that said, it's easy to lose sight of God's original intentions for marriage. Even more importantly, we can easily lose the deep and complex message the Lord intended to ingrain in daily life. The Lord knows how the value of us remembering who who He is and what He has done, but also how easily we forget. He has graciously created aspects of life as embedded reminders of Himself. When we remove or distort what He has created, we lose valuable insight into who He is.
So then, if society and experience fail us, what do we do? We return to the original Source. We look to the one that is calling us into and everlasting and unfailing relationship. We ask Him to show us who He is. We ask Him to show us who we are to Him. Then we keep asking. As He invites us to trust Him, He shows Himself trustworthy. Then we grow to more and more deeply trust Him.
Additionally, His is communicating a practical message to His bride.
Among other things, the Lord wants us to know Him as protector, provider, and head of His Church. I "know" these things as facts and even from experience, but He wants me to really know them. For example, rather the Him helping me with my problem of needing provision, He takes ownership of the problem and all I have to do is come to Him ask. Since Jesus is head, it means that the problems that are too big for us become His problems. Instead of me trying to come up with His plans for my life, I trust that He is capable of leading me to where I need to be. There's so much more to it, but that is a small glimpse of what He is inviting us into as His bride.
As He takes the burdens from us that we need not carry, it frees us up to focus on the things He created us for. Personally, I am noticing that the things I do that are of the greatest value are not measurable, quantifiable, efficient, or of monetary value. Becoming the bride of Christ means recognizing and relinquishing the burdens that are not ours to bear and measuring and valuing things differently. It frees us up to glorify His name on the earth.
It means following His lead and trusting Him with the outcome. It means plenty of things that I don't understand yet. It is a journey with Jesus.
The Lord redeems all things. Even as society has largely lost its vision of and value for marriage, the Lord is inviting us into relationship as His bride. He is inviting us to grow in the knowledge of His goodness amd faithfulness. He is inviting us to a place of freedom where we can spend time on the things that are of greatest value. He is inviting us to a walk of ever-increasing trust with Him.
Join me on the journey?
