Sunday, April 06, 2008

Isn't She Beautiful



Isn’t She Beautiful


In the Bible God refers often to his people, the church, as His bride. It is a beautiful picture of how we relate as a community, the beloved of God. The scriptures often describe how beautiful this bride is for her bridegroom. Which if you ask any true bridegroom, his bride is always beautiful.

The unfortunate thing is that sometimes the church is just ugly. Politics, power plays, sin, and just down right rudeness and meanness can plague the beloved of God. Some days it makes you want to give up and throw in the towel. Except to give up on God’s bride is really to give up on the one who betrothed her, which includes you and me. It just happens, we are broken messed up people trying to emerge into our new identity as God’s beloved, as God’s chosen bride.

Today, I saw how beautiful God’s bride is. I announced to my own church that I felt it was time to move on from this calling, and seek God’s will for the future. I told them how much I loved them, but would be leaving them in a month and half.

Grace abounded. I was awestruck at the maturity and joy that people displayed to Michelle and I. Everyone just wanted to bless us as we followed God. Everyone was very understanding. Their joy was not for us departing from them, but their joy was to see us follow God. Genuine words of encouragement were exchanged all morning. Even those who had trouble understanding graciously approached me and asked for greater clarity. It was a chance for grace to abound for all of us, and it did.

Grace really is the beauty of who God has made us. When grace abounds the beauty of God’s bride abounds.

Today I am in awe of how beautiful she is, and even more how beautiful is the one who has bestowed his beauty to us.

Isn’t she beautiful.