Waiting

One of the most beautiful things about God is that He has many different faces. Each one has its own power and truth. He is Father, He is Savior, He is lover, He is healer….I could go on. Scripture shows us a face of our God that has yet to be unveiled. He is the Bridegroom.

There are many scriptures describing the bride of Christ, as well as the Bridegroom coming for His bride. In Biblical times, what would this look like? What image did God mean for us to have in our mind? In ancient days, marriage customs were much different from today. The relationship began with a betrothal. A legal agreement was made. The woman belonged to her husband, but continued to live in the father’s house. At a later time, the bridegroom would come to take his bride – coming in celebration and joy. Imagine a bride waiting and waiting, making her self ready for the bridegroom to arrive and take her with him.

Revelation 19 gives us a picture of this moment:

6:Then I heard what seemed to be the thunderous voice of a great multitude, like the sound of a massive waterfall and mighty peals of thunder, crying out:

Hallelujah!
    For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns!
^7: Let us rejoice and exalt him and give him glory,
    because the wedding celebration of the Lamb has come.
    And his bride has made herself ready.

We are this bride. The Bridegroom has not come for His Bride yet.

But He will.

In my mind, I always picture the bride standing, looking out the open window for her bridegroom. Waiting and waiting. Never knowing exactly when he will come for her. No matter what she looks like, no matter how clean she is, the bridegroom will still come. This Bridegroom loves His bride with a passionate, unconditional love. He cannot wait to see her. He cannot wait to hold her.

You may never have looked at Him this way. If you are in recovery, becoming a beautiful bride may be the furthest thing from your mind. Look at it this way – God sees you as you are. He loves you perfectly, right now. He is asking you to see Him. He is asking you to work on you while you wait. The joy in this is that you never have to worry that He won’t come if you are not ready. The work is for you! You can make the waiting better!

Right now in our world, many of us are waiting. Waiting for the next step, waiting for jobs to return, waiting for whatever comes next. What do we do while we wait? As the Bride, I want to be found ready when my Bridegroom decides to come for me. I know that He will love me no matter what I do, but I want to be as beautiful as I can for Him. He deserves that.

We all have layers of clothing that need washing. Each piece we carry adds to the weight and burden. Past experiences, trauma, lies we believe, anxiety, depression, fear – all wrap around us and cover our true beauty. We hold onto bitterness, unforgiveness, or rejection and do not realize what we have underneath. When the Bridegroom looks at me, His Bride, I want there to be nothing covering what God has created in me. I want Him to see the love that I have for Him without my “junk” covering it up. He will come for His Bride even if He has to carry me, even if I don’t allow my wounds to be healed.

What is covering up your true beauty? Are you willing to try to find out?

No matter how you answer, the Bridegroom is coming soon for His Bride.