I really tried to hold it in so that I could write this more eloquently, but I was dying to share and couldn’t wait to fill y’all in! I apologize in advance if this gets a little personal, but let me tell you about this relationship I’ve been in.
I met him when I was little. We weren’t ever really super close friends, but we were definitely acquaintances. I think I friend zoned him more than anything because he told me he has always been crazy about me. Honestly, I believe it. Anyway, he has always been in my life to some degree, even when my path took me a separate way. We even went a long time without talking to each other, but he waited for me to come to my senses. I’m glad SOMEONE can put up with my stubborn streak.
I tried out a lot of things and threw myself into relationships that could never have worked out. I decided to blaze my own trail and in the process cut everyone close to me out of my life because they tried to hold me back from what I thought was best for me. You know who never left? This guy. Because he’s awesome. #blessed
I grew up learning about what love looked like in church and always read passages like 1 Corinthians 13 hoping to one day find a love that looked and felt like that. I idolized the idea of a relationship and set my sights on my idea of the perfect man. You know what the sad part is? I never realized that he was right in front of me. He was the one all along. It’s hard to imagine what he was feeling as he watched me try to do things my way. I can’t imagine that it was easy to watch the person you love the most doing things that hurt themselves.
Do you know what opened my eyes and helped me realize what I had been missing? He was patient. He was kind. He did not envy or boast. He was not proud. He wasn’t cruel or selfish. He didn’t have a temper and he didn’t hold grudges. He was quick to forgive. He didn’t gossip and put others down but lifted them up and always was there to lend a hand. He was always there-protecting me, showing me I was worthy, telling me it was okay to have hope, persevering when I wondered off…again. He was the embodiment of everything I had been looking for.
So today, I have a new title. Bride. I have waited so long to be able to say that, and I never imagined that it would happen this way. Let’s rewind a bit.
You see, the reason he is right is because he is not he, but He. God is our Father, God is the Son, and God is the Holy Spirit. He is the one my heart longs for. He is the one who has been with me from the moment I was created. He is the one who waited for me when I wondered away from Him. He is the one who calls me by my name and tells me I am worthy.
We spend so much of our lives seeking out purpose and meaning. We strive to be and do better and to have more and live more comfortably. We prioritize health, wealth, and happiness. Our image is our god. This is where everything has gone so completely wrong.
I’m studying Jeremiah, and God is preparing Jeremiah because He is about to pour out His wrath on Israel and Judah due to their complete abandonment of His will. Jeremiah cries out to God and mourns for his people because they were called to be His chosen ones. Just as Israel was chosen, we have also been chosen.
Jesus came to make the church His bride. We are the church. We are His bride. My prayer is that He would work in my life and move in my heart to create in me a spirit of passion and fervor and boldness that would magnify His name. I don’t want to be complacent anymore. I want my life to have meaning and purpose, and I’ve finally learned that it comes from His will for me.
When you examine your life, are you the bride that Christ has called you to be? His word says He will test us with fire and anything impure will be burned away. What will be left? I want to live in such a way that if He came back now, I wouldn’t feel ashamed about where my walk was with Him.
The Bible is His love letter to us, and our lives are our love letters to Him. What does your letter sound like?
