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“Every love story is beautiful but yours is our favourite”
These were the words that suddenly flashed past on a billboard by the side of the freeway on the way to work one morning. My curiosity was triggered to know what they actually meant. Was it about a wedding venue? Or could it be related to something else? I had to find out!
Later on when I had time off from work I did indeed visit this place which was found to be a medium sized building set off the road a little way, housing a café/restaurant which could be booked as a wedding venue. Strategically positioned amongst the reeds and waterways where wildlife lived, it made for an interesting view in a tranquil setting.
Now that my curiosity had been piqued and completely satisfied I kept this place in mind for a future visit perhaps over coffee with friends, or family. Quite some time later we did eventually visit, but due to the holiday of Father’s Day, there was a function running, and we found it to be far too busy to stay.
Since then I have wanted to write on this topic but had no idea in what context, however I kept these words in mind for the future. Now I know. It has been placed on my heart to write about the love story of Isaac and Rebekah. If you have read this account in Genesis 24 then you may remember that their union in marriage was organised by God through Abraham after the death of his wife Sarah. Yes theirs, Isaac and Rebekah, was an arranged marriage but both parties were more than willing to be yoked permanently to one another.
Following in Rebekah’s Footsteps
I urge you the reader to revisit the whole account in chapter 24 of Genesis to refresh your memory on the circumstances of how Rebekah was chosen to marry Isaac.
One very important aspect that stands out is that God deeply desires His children to be equally yoked together in marriage (2 Corinthians 6:14). That is why Abraham was insistent that his chief steward obey his most earnest request to seek out a wife for his son from his kinfolk. His son was to inherit everything Abraham owned. This was the same son that Abraham was willing to sacrifice to God and, at the same time, Isaac was equally willing to give his life (Genesis 22:1-19). Abraham was resolute in not wanting Isaac married to a Canaanite woman of pagan origin. That would be a marriage in God’s eyes as being unequally yoked. Isaac’s wife was most importantly required to be a helper to enable Her husband to live peaceably and righteously together under the marriage covenant. They were to walk together as one in the faith.
As you can plainly see, Isaac and Rebekah had a very touching love story — of two people brought together, sight unseen, for a marital union blessed by God. I wonder how many modern day marriages have been organised by God for two of His children to be blessed in this way? I suspect that there are quite a few. One man and one woman hand picked by their Creator who completely knows each one intimately and extensively because He designed them. In Matthew 10:30 we can read about God numbering the very hairs on our head. God knows all our strengths, weaknesses, talents, gifts, what makes us laugh, how we enjoy this life with our unique personality quirks, and most definitely how we need to develop by loving a man (in my case) or woman, ready for His Kingdom. As we know from scripture, one man and one woman only is God’s ordination for marriage. Anything else is sinful.
Unspeakably Beautiful
Marriage can be unspeakably beautiful. I have only come to realise and know this over the last year or so since God organised our marriage. Like Rebekah I travelled to a far off land to meet with a man who would become my husband. Unlike Rebekah we had been introduced through another person who shared in our faith. A mutual friend who divulged that she felt inspired and motivated by God to act on this initiative to ensure we met. Needless to say we are both so glad she did!
Also unlike Rebekah, I was reluctant to go straight away and attempted to put our union off for several months. But God convinced me to go — through a series of very personal and touching moments while fasting — when He decided, which was only a month away. Like Isaac we were of mature age. Isaac was around 40 years while we were even quite a bit older than that.
God had prepared us for marriage even though we had no idea that that was His will for us until we met. I love the fact that we met on a Sabbath. By the end of the following Sabbath we knew without a shadow of a doubt that God wanted us to be married to each other. At the conclusion of that particular Sabbath I spoke the following words to my future husband “God has sealed me to you” and then marveled at why I said the word sealed. These were not my words. They came from my mouth, but I truly believe and know in my heart of hearts that God spoke these words through me.
The Anticipation of Things to Come
Why I wanted to delay our union was that, you see, I greatly enjoy the anticipation of things. The weekly Preparation Day and the Sabbath are eagerly anticipated events which give me great joy. Planning for an outing with others also gives me excitement while doing all those necessary things to pack picnic baskets or whatever it is to ensure a fun time is had by all. I can even obtain quite a bit of delight in anticipating going shopping and running errands on Friday afternoons after cleaning our home beforehand on the Preparation Day. I really like to be organised by planning and realise I have been like this all my life. By extension there is so much fun imagining what one can do, especially for a wedding.
Planning for my own wedding I thought was something I could hold onto for a year and was disappointed at the time that God brought this forward, but I knew God had His reasons for doing so. It was just that I did not know why, yet. I would never ordinarily just hop on a plane to go all the way over the Pacific Ocean to meet up with a future husband. Indeed if someone had told me I would do so, I would have thought they were crazy cuckoo and laughed out loud with raucous laughter.
Why I went so quickly was because another wedding had been announced in the family and I had been invited knowing I was soon to become part of the same family. Only God could have organised something like that — something that could not wait — and so I went astonished that this was occurring but at peace because I trusted God completely.
It wasn’t until now, some 18 months later, that I made any connection between myself and Rebekah. There are several physical and spiritual parallels. We married within the faith. God chose our husband for us. We responded willingly trusting in God with our whole heart. Rebekah’s family wanted her to stay for at least 10 days before leaving on the long journey to meet Isaac (Genesis 24:55). However to their surprise Rebekah agreed to go straight away. Likewise, my family wanted me to wait before I travelled to a far off land. My family and friends were all very surprised that I went quickly too.
When God places people before us we always have a choice. In my case I wanted to put things off for a time in order to do things my way. This is not a problem for God. He rearranged things so that I would marry the man He chose for me more or less straight away.
As I reflect on all the events that led up to our meeting, it was clear that God had been working “behind the scenes” for years. He prepared us for each other and there are many special memories of all sorts of funny and interesting interventions along the way like the time we both attended the same Feast of Tabernacles site in Oregon in 2009.
During 2013 around the same time we both experienced the worst trial of our lives. Jim lost his wife Nancy to cancer and I lost my youngest child to the cares of this world. As I wrote a get well card to Nancy in April and then a sympathy card to Jim in May I had thoughts of wondering if I would ever meet any of the people I wrote to. There were other thoughts too which I wondered about at that time, which only make sense now.
Also I would have recurring dreams about a man from Texas wearing a hat but could not ever see his face in these dreams. When I told Jim about my dreams of a Texan he responded that he had lived most of his life in Texas. He also liked to wear hats. The first picture I ever saw of Jim — you guessed it — He was wearing a hat! We laughed out loud of course! At the time I disregarded these things as silly, but now I see God’s humour amongst it all — to introduce us to one another but knowing that the time had to be right.
In time it will be revealed to us why God put marriage on our hearts immediately in the strongest way. It will be fascinating to find out. Marriage for me is definitely about preparation for the Kingdom. For Jim I think I am a comforter to him just like Rebekah was a comforter to Isaac after the death of his mother Sarah (Genesis 24:67).
All I know is that when God says He wants me to do (whatever it is) I just tell Him I will, even though I do not understand. How can we, when we only see through a glass darkly now (1 Corinthians 13:12).
The most important lesson I learned throughout the last year or so is that I must always listen to God and not man (Acts 5:29).