Hoping For A Wedding

I loved our conversation at our care group tonight.  We continued a conversation about hope.  In the Bible, Paul asks  “Who hopes for what he already has?  But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.”  Yet throughout Scripture we are told to put our hope in the LORD.  Oops, does that mean we don’t really have the LORD?  How can we continue to hope in the LORD if we already have him?  “Who hopes for what he already has?”

We were figuring things out.  None of us have seen Him face to face.  We certainly don’t have Him figured out.  There is so much to Him, so much to blow us over.  We’re getting a glimpse, and we’re loving what we see.  Whatever we have of Him, is certainly not all there is.  We barely understand Him at all. So yes, we can continue hoping in Him, because truly, we don’t have all of Him.  Will eternity be long enough to completely behold him?  Will the quest of hope always be what keeps us energized in our relationship to him?

We also thought about the wedding feast of the Lamb.  The day that God  “will marry his church.”  I, being the only married person at the group tonight, was asked what it was like to get ready for a  wedding… so perhaps we can draw comparisons to how we, collectively, as the church, can be preparing.   And then ask, what are we individuals doing to get ready for this wedding celebration?

 It was fun to reminisce with the group about getting ready to marry Dave.   From the day we were engaged, each morning that I woke up, I thought about  my husband-to-be, and I thought about the wedding preparations, and I also thought about my body.  I was preparing my body.  I joined weight watchers (who almost didn’t let me in, because they didn’t see that I had any weight to lose – but money speaks); I worked out regularly; I got tan; as we got closer; got the hair, nails and make-up all prepared.

 But there were the other preparations.  We wanted a great marriage, so we actually went to 4 different counselors; we dealt with things up front.   We thought about our guest list (a bit too much, according to my dad who had to pay that dinner bill).  We wanted everyone there. We also thought we had a corner on love.  No one really knew what true love was until we came around.  Ha ha.  I’ve talked to many a couple since then.  I love how they all have believed that same about their own relationship.  It’s probably the way it should be.

But always we were focused. Every day, our thoughts would turn to the wedding.  We’re getting closer – are we getting it all together?  Is our relationship healthy?  Are we inviting everyone to come? The energy is totally focused on that great day.

I love the comparisons.  There is the great expectation. As believers, we do wake up, with Jesus on our mind.  We thank him for a new day.  We wait to find out how He’ll instruct us for the day.  Or maybe He already has given us the “To Do” list for the day; and we eagerly get started.  We want to be healthy.  We meditate on His word.  We seek counsel and accountability.  We keep inviting guests; we don’t want anyone left out.  And I feel like I have a corner on God’s love for me.  He has a way of making me feel like I am His very favorite.  I know that is not true… but I think that is the way it is supposed to be.