When she rounded the corner and he saw her in her gown, he could hardly contain his emotions. As she walked the aisle, she didn't even try. Tears streamed down her face. I felt my own emotions rise. I had to look away. I was, after all, performing the ceremony. I needed to keep my composure.
I don't do many weddings. That's not intentional. It just worked out that way. As a pastor (now retired), I do Christian weddings. Sadly, authentic Christian weddings aren't so common anymore. I suppose that's why I struggled with my own emotions as I watched this bride and groom struggle with theirs. I saw something I hadn't seen for years at a wedding. Wonder. The obvious intensity of his feelings as he watched her walk towards him. The tears that streamed down her face as she drew closer. These said it all. The bride and groom felt a sense of wonder that this day had come. They stood in awe of the reality that God was giving them the gift of each other.
Then the Lord God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone" (Genesis 2:18). But how many young men believe that today? Immaturity, self-absorption, an obsession with instant gratification/entertainment/video games, an aversion to commitment, and the easy availability of sex have seemingly convinced multitudes of young men that marriage is no pressing issue. For an entire generation, many (maybe most) see no problem with the idea "that the man should be alone."
Then the Lord God said...I will make him a helper fit for him...So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of the ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man" (Genesis 2:18, 21-22).
But again, how many young women long to be the "helper" of one man? How many girls are being raised up to find satisfaction in being a husband's "completer" instead of his competitor? What woman longs to merge her identity with his in order that they might become "one flesh" (Genesis 2:24)? For many, the mere suggestion stirs rage. And so they tell us (ad nauseam) that male and female are the same. If a man can do it, so can a woman. And she must prove it. Career trumps marriage. Husbands are unnecessary--even to produce a child.
So tragically, far too often, the man remains alone. And so does the woman God created to complete him.
But not the man and the woman I married that day. On that day their tears fell because they felt the wonder of God's plan. On that day they embraced God's reality that it is not good that the man should be alone--nor the woman. On that day they stood in awe of God's gift of each other. They stood in awe of His gift of marriage.
Will their life be a fairy tale from this point forward. No. There will be struggles. There will be pain. There will be a continuing need to practice the discipline of forgiveness. Even so, may the wonder this bride and groom felt on their wedding day remain. It will remain. It will remain by God's grace through faith in Jesus to whom we also have been betrothed.
If you are a husband, if you are a wife, may God renew your own sense of wonder at His gift of marriage. Where there are wounds, may God heal them. Where there is bitterness, may God give you His power to forgive. Where there is disappointment, may God's promises in Christ satisfy your soul. As husbands and wives, may we stand in awe of the gift God gave us when He gave us each other.