Wedding? Groom? Don't Ask Me, I'm Just The Bride!

I am not sure how to start this post because I think it sounds weird telling people that you had a "vision".

 I do not have much experience with "visions" so can I just use the term "dream"? Although I am pretty sure that I was awake when I saw this, I have also staunchly insisted that I have never heard myself snore so do with this what you will. All I know is that this dream or vision was so real it has stayed with me all day long and has affected my behaviour in how I have interacted with others.

Have you ever had a dream that was so real that it was almost palatable? I mean you were able to smell the surroundings as well as touch and taste? Usually i have what I would call "normal dreams" and sometimes I have had dreams that i could swear were so real that, depending upon what took place in that dream, I would wake up sad, angry, happy, or even shocked. This was none of those.

I really struggled for a minute about posting this dream or not, but I decided to post it because I think you were in it.

Last night I had a dream that we went to a wedding.

We?

Yep. I say "we" because whenever I looked at the person in the car with me as "we" drove to the church "we" were talking and your face kept constantly changing. It was like I was looking at everyone I ever knew and the voice and expressions you used were a smooth blend of everyone that I have ever interact with. Weird right?

Anyway, we drove up to the church for the ceremony and there were cars everywhere. The place was packed and people were making their way in as we walked up the sidewalk. It was a beautiful day for a wedding and we were dressed very well. The sky was blue, and lazy white clouds quietly made their way to their destinations at a slow and casual pace. Birds were singing and if you were going to get married, this would be the perfect choice for just such a day.

When we got into the church we were not asked who were were there for but rather shown right to a seat. I looked around the beyond full auditorium and was shocked at the diversity of people there.
It was as if some people had never been to a wedding before by the way they loudly talked and others were laughing and greeting each other and it was obvious that they were there to see this event intentionally.

Some people were dressed in fishing clothes and I heard them say that they were going to the lake as soon as the wedding was over. There was a man and woman right near the back that looked as if they were homeless , they had a tent at their feet and that was a tip off I guess, and I wondered how they knew the bride or groom. I saw a co-worker of mine that I knew and thought, "This really is a small world". I was a little bit stunned to see TV cameras in the balcony and thought to myself, "Wow! This thing is going to be seen by the entire world!"

Then everyone quieted down as some soft organ music began to play and the mood suddenly shifted to "Wedding Mode". The door to the left side of the platform opened and the minister stepped out. He made his way to the front with comfortable familiarity and faced the people gathered. Then the groom came out and quietly stood in the most incredible tuxedo I had ever seen. He stood quietly with his hands clasped in front of him, and you could not help but be drawn to his eyes. His eyes just sent an overwhelming sense of peace.

It was as if the building were completely empty. He stood there with his gazed fixed on the doors in the back of the church auditorium as if he could see her, his bride, right through them.
He was in love and it made me feel, just looking at his eyes, as if any love I had ever had was non-existent and selfish.

The music played and people were fixated on the groom and they were also captivated by the way he looked at that back door. I found myself really looking forward to seeing the look on her face when those doors opened and she saw how intensely he was anticipating her and the love that was conveyed in those eyes.

The music began the familiar wedding march and the doors opened and EVERYONE turned to see the bride. The light from the windows in the foyer spilled into the aisle and was so bright that it made the auditorium lights appear nonexistent. She emerged from behind those doors into the room and she was stunningly beautiful!
Her dress was the most beautiful and amazing gown that I have ever seen and the color was off the charts white. It was not just white, it was a dazzling white that almost hurt your eyes to look at it. Her hair was perfect and the fragrance from the flowers she carried filled the room.

Every eye was on her now and the cameras followed her carefully as she made her way into the opening steps of the aisle.

When the doors first creaked as they began to open I looked quickly back at the groom and his eyes never wavered, in fact they were beginning to mist up with tears of joy, and then I looked at her face to see her expression when she saw him.

She was looking down at her hands. No, she was looking down at her nails. She began to speak and her voice certainly did not match her appearance. It was harsh (Like the girl from the TV show the Nanny). It was annoyingly loud and she was complaining about the way the manicurist botched up on her nail finish. She looked around at all the people and seemed to remember that this was her wedding and blushed as she tried to compose herself.

The older, distinguished, and quiet person leading her down the aisle touched her elbow gently and gestured her direction back towards the front and the waiting groom that had still not stopped looking at her with intensity. She paused by the couple with the tent at their feet and demanded to know who they were and why they were there. It was really very rude, and as they fumbled to present an answer to her she reached down and snatched away the fabric of her dress that they almost touched as they were humiliated beyond belief by her shouts of anger.

The older man beside her gently reached for her hand again and appeared grieved by her behaviour. She shrugged his hand away and whirled to face the front, never one time acknowledging her groom. He stared with love and even through all of this, his eyes never left her.

The people that were there to watch the wedding were uncomfortable by her behaviour and I have to admit, I could not wait for this to be done so I could leave.

When she got to the front and finally noticed her groom. Her eyes met his and instantly she was filled the true realization of the love that I had even felt when I saw his eyes. She looked around in shock as if it was a sudden surprise to her that this was actually her wedding and she began to cry very hard and very loudly. She looked at the older man beside her and sobbed as she pointed to the groom, "Who is that?"

That is when I woke up. I have to tell you that as I sat up in bed I was so filled with sadness about what I had just seen and experienced. I say it was a dream, but it was the most "real and vivid" dream that I believe I have ever had. It was as if it happened between the space of opening my eyes this morning sitting upright in my bed.

I have been thinking about this all day long and since the person who was with me at the time was glimpses of you I wanted to share it with those I interact with. I am guessing that you were meant to see this dream as well. This may cause some of you who have been reading this blog to question my sanity, but I am very glad that I shared it with you anyway.

I would like to give you the thoughts that came as a result of this dream and see if you got the same thing.

The bride is symbolic of the Church.

"Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself readyAnd to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints." ~Revelation 19:7-8

"I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh [himself] with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth [herself] with her jewels." ~Isaiah 61:10


The groom is symbolic of Christ.

"Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;"    ~Ephesians 5:25

"That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish." ~Ephesians 5:27

 
The older quiet man at the side of the bride is symbolic of the Holy Spirit.

"Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. " ~John 16:7-8

The people who showed up to see this event would be symbolic of the world.

They were watching this one sided celebration of love with amazement and disgust at the same time. Amazed at the powerful and evident love of the groom for His bride, and disgust for the brides speech and behaviour and overall disregard for the groom, the guests, and the event that was a pivotal part of her own life.


"Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet." ~Joel 2:16

This goes beyond the term, "Well there is no such thing as a perfect church" as our defense mechanism when our authenticity and love are in question. This is more in the stratosphere of ,"We are missing the mark completely".

Are we as the bride so concerned with the nails, dress, and who is in attendance that we completely miss the groom?
Will we find ourselves snapped into reality very soon to the fact that , "Hey this is your wedding day and you have no clue who the groom really is"?

The world and country we live in is changing at an alarming rate and if you have the eyes to see into the things that are going down it is exciting and yet a bit scary how connected everything really is with an "Impending wedding".

Do you think maybe that their might be a bigger picture behind a challenged defenition of marriage? Is it a call to the bride to fully understand who she is? Could it be a message for those with ears to hear, that we as the bride, have lost our identity in the fact we are in fact a bride to an overwhelming concern with things that do not matter?

If you turn on the TV and you see the words, "Marriage attacked" do you get irate and miss the fact that God is calling us as the bride to make ourselves ready?

Think about it for a minute. How does a bride get ready? She sits down in front of a mirror (In our case the perfect law of liberty) and looks herself in the eye and says, "I am a bride of_______? " She makes herself ready by understanding who she is, and who she is to the groom.

The church as we know it is shifting and it will be forced to leave the comfortable status of Non-profit , money making "Organization" and go back to the original title.

 

"Organism"

Persecution introduced the church and persecution is going to see the church to the wedding altar. We pray for revival and yet post critically about how much we hate God's introduction towards revival through those He allows into the position of introduction to "Revival 101".

I believe that the Holy Spirit is grieved by the behaviour of the church and how she has brought disgust to those that watch her interactions with the guests, the ceremony, and more specifically with her Groom. 
She has become, for the most part, more concerned with her dress and getting the "Best deal" on her nails to notice Him or the least of these. She throws out a smile to the homeless but after all, "God helps those that help themselves right?". News flash bride, Benjamin Franklin said that, not God. It makes me more sad than anything else that the size of our buildings and the way we steal Walt Disney's welcoming tecniques to "sell Jesus and our programs" determines our success as a bride.

The fastest growing religion in America is "NONE". At least that is the answer that is written on the survey cards. Do we really need to waste the brain matter wondering why?

There is so much for me to try to process from the dream that it may have been too soon for me to share it with you, but honestly I had to tell someone. The demographic of this blog is predominately Faith based and it seemed to be something relevant.

If there could be a challenge at all in any of this it would be for you and I to just stop for a minute and just ask to see the Groom again. To stop and remind ourselves who we are to Him, what that means in the big picture.

 Ask the Holy Spirit to point us in the aisle's direction to Him and Him alone.

If we looked toward His eyes now before we reach the end of the aisle, wouldn't it be better to be filled with the realiztion of His love now than at the altar?

Wouldn't it be better to be filled with His love before the manicure and the dress distract us from the shabby couple with the tent at their feet who came to the wedding at the invitation of the Groom? 

At the altar nothing else matters. Car payments, building carpet color choices, antics of other members...It's all gone then and either you will be able to say to the Groom, "I have been waiting for this day for so long and I love you with everything that I am!" Or you will be looking around crying saying, "Who is this?".

The building is packed, and the world is watching and they are looking to see if this thing called "In Love with God" is really true. They flood the airwaves and the culture with the best counterfeit of their defenition of "Love" and "God" that they can offer, but they know better than anyone that it is only a straw man. Is it possible for a bride to return a fraction of the love given by her groom?

The Wedding day is coming.

It will be sooner than we think!

"Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping." ~ Mark 13:36

Climbing with you,
~Dan