Royal Wedding

Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready.                                                                                                                                                                       Revelation 19:7

She was a beautiful bride, and I had the privilege of helping her get ready to walk down the aisle. From our little table in the church basement we could hear the music starting and knew that guests were being seated upstairs. I twisted strands of her hair, weaving little white blossoms into the pattern and imagining how lovely the sanctuary must be with thousands of flowers and candles and smiling faces.

The bride stood up and I smoothed her veil. As she stepped away from the table, I lifted her train and let it fall gracefully behind her. Her face was beaming as I handed her the fragrant bouquet. As she started up the stairs, the swishing sound of the train blended with the muffled music, which became momentarily louder as the doors opened to her, then muffled again. I hadn’t been invited to the wedding as a guest, yet I couldn’t have been happier for her.

A moment later I woke up with a song playing in my heart:

“How beautiful the radiant bride,                                                                                                  Who waits for her Groom,                                                                                                         With His light in her eyes..”                                                                                                                                                      (“How Beautiful,” Twila Paris, 1990)

As I lay there smiling and reflecting on the dream, a name came to mind: “Char.”

Char was a delightful lady from our church. I hadn’t seen her in a while, but a few days earlier, doing my volunteer rounds at the hospital, I had been surprised to see her there as a patient. I had not even been aware that she had cancer, but the disease had already reached an advanced stage. I had spent more time in her room that day than the rest of the patients combined, talking about the Lord and sharing fond memories. We had sung songs of worship and prayed together, and later I had prayed with her family in the visitors’ lounge.

Somehow I had a feeling this dream had been about Char.

I can’t say I was surprised when later that day I heard that she had died, although “died” was not the word I would have used. Char’s Big Day had come. Her earthly preparations were finished, and she had gone to meet her Bridegroom – her King! I was not there to witness that happy moment first hand, but I felt I had had the immense privilege of helping her in her final preparations before going to meet Him. Her body had been ravaged by cancer, but none of that mattered now. With her mind focused on Christ, as it always was, a song of praise in her heart, and prayer on her lips, I know that when Jesus appeared to take her to Himself, she was indescribably beautiful to Him.

Prayer: Jesus, we know that when You appear to take Your bride home, everything of this world will fade into nothing. The only thing that will matter is: Are we ready? May we be found waiting expectantly, with Your light in our eyes and our love for You overflowing from our hearts. In Your precious name, Amen.