As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.
Isaiah 62:5
At the altar, we recited our vows, promising for better or worse, sickness and in health, till death do we part. After the wedding reception, we drove away in a chauffeured vintage car. The words of At Last by Etta James wonderfully expressed our love:
At last my love has come along
My lonely days are over
And life is like a song.
But several years later, “till death do we part” became a reality. With the death of my husband, I went from wife to widow. Living happily ever after stories never ended like this. Finding true love was supposed to be forever.
Eventually my grief turned to disappointment with God. With a sense of entitlement, I felt God owed me a happily ever after. What did I do to deserve checking the box next to widow on tax and personnel documents.
God owed me a husband I could flirt with my eyes in a room full of people. God owed me a husband that I can attend marriage retreats with other couples. God owed me a husband to make ends meet when I had more bills than my take home pay. God owed me a husband that would have conversations with young men who were interested in dating our daughter. God owed me a husband that would be like David who was a man after his own heart.
Desperate to hear from God, I cried out to him asking, “What happened to my happily ever after?” I will never forget the question God answered me back with. He asked, “Where were you when I created the heavens and the earth?”
God always asks questions he knows the answer to in order to reveal to us our heart and our motives. Saying yes to His will, I suddenly felt a peace come over me. Jesus had to surrender his will to God when he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane: “Nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42).
We mistakenly believe that something or someone will bring us our happily ever after. We forget that relationships were not meant to fulfill all our hopes and dreams.
Jesus never promised us a husband we would grow old with. He promised that he would return as the Bridegroom for his Bride for eternity. This is the true happily ever after.
Prayer: Forgive me for feeling entitled and that you owed me anything. I owe you everything. Your plans to rejoice over me as your Bride is what I live for.