The Engagement

There once was a man who lived as some would say a prodigal life.  He was far away from God, living to please himself, by his own rules and by what he deemed right in his own eyes.  The end for him was guaranteed destruction. He didn't know it, but he was relentlessly pursued by two entities.  One was far greater than the other. One deceived and there was no truth in him.  One was truth that offered a liberty he had never known.  One hated his soul and the very image of him.  One loved him and gave his son's life for him.

There once was a woman who was always searching.  All her life she knew there was more.  She felt a void that nothing could fill - not husband, sons, job or cash.  She was empty and in darkness.  She had heard that there was light, but she stubbornly refused the Way.  She saw evidence of the truth but logics and reasons kept her away. 

Then one day, what they knew and what the felt came head to head. A conflict. A struggle.  A surrender.  Both had something happen, not at the same time, but still they would journey together.  Their eyes were open, and now they  were brand new.  They had been pursued relentlessly by the Father Himself, and through His son they were both now reconciled. He wooed them with a love that was beyond their understanding.  He lifted the veil from their eyes, he brought them into light, he rescued them from an enemy that sought only to kill.

And so it is that today that we all celebrate the engagement party of this couple, not to each other, but to Jesus the son.  He is the bride groom and they are now the bride.  In anticipation of the wedding, they have shed themselves of the old and are reborn.  Their baptism I imagine brought the Father great joy.  If only we could see the clouds rolled back and the Heavens revealed.  I imagine the joy of Heaven which I cannot with great justice describe, try as I might.  Surely the angels sang louder; surely there was joyous applause as these two finally surrendered to discover that they win. 

If you find that I am more dramatic than usual, it is only this, this couple are my brother and his wife (my sister).  They are the miracle we have been praying for, and it is only the beginning.  Beloved, do not despair, God is at work behind the scenes of your loved ones.  One day too, you will be at the engagement party.  Wait on the Lord and again I say wait.