Bridegroom in the Clouds: Book 2 - Bridge Stories

Chapter Eight 

God Longs for Our Wedding Day

Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.

—Revelation 19:7 NIV

It all started in March of 2010. During this season, God began to paint a symbolic picture right before my eyes of my wedding day, of our wedding day. It is a beautiful picture, one that I believe He wants all of us to see.

On a Monday evening that March, during one of my Bible studies, I ended up hearing the testimony of two women whom God had called to start a wedding gown business/ministry. Their story was amazing. One of them talked about how God had inspired not only the names of several of the gowns but also the exact designs, and the other talked about her gifting and desire to sew these designs. They had a desire to use their business to raise money to help victims of sex trafficking. It was clear that they truly wanted to glorify the Lord in what they did.

As they were sharing their testimony, a still, small voice told me that I would be adorned in a wedding dress someday, something that, of course, brought joy to my heart. What then instantly came into my mind after hearing that is how a white wedding dress symbolizes Jesus Christ, for He is truly the “dress” that adorns us.

It is the blood of the Lamb, the covering of Christ that makes us a pure and spotless bride, as white as snow. So, although I didn’t know at the time where God was leading all of this symbolism, we had the DRESS.

After the study that night, I found myself talking with my Bible study leader, Holly, about music. She began to talk about her desire to have a piano in her home for the purpose of worship. She talked about how she hadn’t believed that it was by accident that she had recently been inspired to move a picture of a piano into her dining room, for she believed that God intended for it to end up being a music room, a room of worship.

This conversation led me to think of another friend of ours from our study, a woman who had the gift of music through piano. She was someone who had recently felt God’s leading to spend more time with a new piano that He had just provided, writing worship music.

As Holly and I continued to talk about this other woman’s ability to testify through her worship music, God brought me more revelation.

I realized that I had just heard about a wedding dress ministry and was now having a conversation about a music ministry.  The thought that God brought strongly to my mind was: We have the wedding dress; now it is time for the WEDDING MARCH.

The next day, during my quiet time with the Lord, as I began to reflect on the ministry that God was calling me to, that of testifying through the written word, the thought that entered my mind was, ENTER the BRIDE. I then began to blush a little bit, knowing that God was calling me His Bride, and painting such a picture before me of my wedding day, to which I then clearly heard God say, “Susan, is it hard to believe that I am preparing your wedding right in front of you?” At first my answer was yes, but then God began to lay on my heart more revelation.

He began to show me that: it isn’t my wedding; it is Christ’s wedding. Our ministries, our callings intertwine for through them we collectively testify to Him. God is calling all of us to testify, to live lives that point people to Christ as a means to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. He is calling all of us to help get His Bride ready for her wedding day.

Somehow our lives, our ministries do intertwine for just that: to shine Christ’s light to this ever-darkening world. It is a beautiful sight to see, God mobilizing His people. He longs to mobilize us because He longs for our wedding day.

A few days later, I ended up having coffee with another friend. During this conversation, she decided to confide something in me. She said that for some time now God had been calling her to build an altar like the one in the Old Testament. At first, I was taken aback because it sounded a little bit out of the ordinary, but then I heard a still, small voice say, “Susan, pay attention. This is for you.” God’s comment calmed me down, and I then began to listen intently.

She began to talk about the many reasons why God was calling her to do this, most of them pertaining to using her for ministry.

She eventually came to the understanding that God only wanted her to do this act symbolically. But the reason why I believe that God inspired her to share this with me and why He wanted me to listen closely pertains to our wedding scenario.

We have the dress. We have the wedding march. We have the bride. And now we have the ALTAR. Maybe God will use her experience to start off yet another ministry meant to intertwine with the others. It is a beautiful picture.

A few days after that, and seemingly out of nowhere, my husband Joe confided in me concerning a vision that God had been giving him of a place for people to use for weddings.

He mentioned how this vision just wouldn’t seem to leave his mind. He talked about how the vision was so specific that he had gone home from work that day and drawn up the floor plans.

I knew that God gave Joe many ideas but they often did not linger in his mind quite like that. In my heart I knew that God was communicating: We have the dress. We have the music. We have the bride. We have the altar, and now God is bringing forth the PLACE.

Joe’s vision was of a castle that offered a huge ballroom that people could rent out for a very reasonable price, as a type of ministry.

The revelation that came to me was that of course God would inspire Joe, my future bridegroom, with the place, for it is our Bridegroom who has the responsibility of providing the actual place.

Jesus said He was going ahead of us in order to prepare a place for us, His Bride. 

Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

John 14:1–3 (NIV)

So, we have the dress, the wedding march, the bride, the altar and the place.

All we need now is the Bridegroom, and how He longs for His wedding day. 

Let us be in ministry to each other and to this world. Let us testify through our different gifts and talents, whether through song, art, or the spoken and written word. 

Let us make ourselves ready by preparing our hearts for that day. May we all be the pure and spotless Bride, who along with the Spirit, says to Jesus, our true Bridegroom, “Come!” (Revelation 22:17a NIV).

You can connect with Susan on: IG  YouTube  and her website 

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