God is Bigger Than My Wedding
God is Bigger Than My Wedding
By Dani Rourke
The season of engagement is one of immense joy and even greater expectation. I have found myself submerged in a sea of colors, flowers, music, gifts, pictures, and pretty dresses. It is easy to be swept up in the tide of celebrations and well wishes.
However, if I’m being honest, there is something empty about this time of preparation. I often feel like I am throwing money at vendors with the hopes of looking like the stereotypical “beautiful bride” or having the “best” wedding that everyone will be talking about. I obsess over pictures of hair, makeup, dresses, and flowers that I’m hoping will make me feel a certain way.
Recently, I was in tears and doubting all of my wedding decisions. I was so afraid of looking less than, feeling less than, and having less than other brides. I was terrified of making the wrong choice and regretting it on my wedding day. I was in such a low place of self-consciousness and self-doubt that I wasn’t even sharing with my fiancé.
I wept. I truly wept over this one day in my life that is fleeting. I wept over my choice of dress on a day that I will be joining with the love of my life to create a God-centered union and a blessed partnership.
My crying soon turned to laughing. God always knows how to ruin my plans and show me my pettiness and selfishness.
God is bigger than my wedding.
He is bigger than the flowers I choose, the dress I wear, and the cake I cut. He is bigger than my fiancé and I. He is BIGGER than any hopes and dreams I can ever wish to have.
“But as it is written, ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined the things that God has prepared for those who love him.’” 1 Corinthians 2:9
This verse doesn’t mean that God is picking the bridesmaid dresses for me but that His plan is so much bigger and better than anything I have ever seen, heard, or thought about. His plan for my life and his Heavenly plan are inconceivable!
My wedding is an important day and I am so excited to join with my fiancé in marriage, but God has given me the perspective and the loving nudge to put Him first and to center my life (including my wedding day) on Him. He has plans for my life and they are so much sweeter than the selfish plans I make on my own.
“’For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the LORD. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.’” Isaiah 55:8-9
“Please leave a comment. We would love to know how you relate, any wisdom God has given you about engagement/marriage, any Scriptures that relate. We love when our community engages and encourages our brave writers. Thank you. ”
Dani is an amazing pediatric ICU nurse in Nashville, TN, who is passionate about mentoring and working with young adults and the pediatric population. She loves coffee, mystery books, key lime pie, and her fiance Jason who she has been with for seven years.