Ola! Long time no post, eh?
Well today I decided to update my blog in the middle of wedding prep craziness. It is 24 days to my wedding day! Just like any other bride-zillas, I'm struggling with my mood swing. I realized that I am getting more sensitive and irritable these days, crankier than ever. Oh well, so much for the intro!
In this post, I am so willing to tell you my experience on the last Sunday before my engagement service (Partumpolon/ Ikat Janji). After the Sunday School Service was dismissed, my fellow teacher asked the children to stay in the class. They were going to practice a song for my engagement service.
Nothing can explain how deeply touched my heart was when I hear the children started to sing the chorus. Not by the innocent faces of the children or by their clear and heavenly voices (although they did contribute the emotional situation). I was moved when I hear these phrases of the song:
Ajarilah kami bahasa cinta-Mu, agar kami dekat pada-Mu, ya Tuhanku
Ajarilah kami bahasa cinta-Mu, agar kami dekat pada-Mu
(Teach us Thy language of love, so that we may become to You, our Lord
Teach us Thy language of love, so that we become close to You)
I know it is an old song. Some of us might have known this song since we were just Sunday School students. But today, I just realized the meaning of the song.
Just in a split second, a book crossed my mind. It was a book lent by my colleague few weeks ago. "Sacred Marriage" by Gary Thomas. I was still going through half of the book at that time. This book was really interesting. On the cover of the book, there is a question sentence: "What if God designed marriage to make us holy more than to make us happy?" When I read the question, I thought: "Well, nobody has ever asked me this!"
As I went through the book, I learned the value of a marriage. It is not by superficial reasoning that God called the Israelites His "bride". We all know how self-willed the Israelites were. They turned to gods so many times, most of the times because the didn't get what they asked for from God. Those times were not a happy time for "the Groom". But amazingly, as many times as His bride "betrayed" Him, there are more times that God showed mercy upon the Israelites. Everytime the tribe turned their back on God, God punished them, but then He sent them a helper through prophets and judges to facilitate their repentance. The Old Testaments teached us a lot about God's endless love to His "bride", literally through thick and thin!
God's love is so limitless that He finally sent His only Child, Jesus Christ, to bring salvation to the falling world. Jesus had to die and rise in order to release us from the slavery of sin. God is willing to unite with us. The book of Revelation depicted this union as a wedding, describing the faithful Christian as the "bride". Through the New Testaments, we learn about Christ's perseverance.
You see? Such a deep relationship, deepest even, a marriage means, that God used it to reflect His relationship with us. So, is there any better way to improve our relationship with God than to improve our marriage life? Is there any better way to be a good bride for God than to be a good bride for your spouse? It is very clear that God designed marriage to teach us the way we should love God.
Regarding the title I've put on this post, I am not saying that Christian marriage must be far from happiness. It is just an invitation for us to take a look at marriage from a different perspective. I believe that happiness will come along, but the focus is still on achieving holiness.
I suppose now you understand why I am so touched by the lyrics of the song. Marriage can be a doorway for a closer walk to God, and I really hope that my marriage will be such. For all of my friends who are married, dating, or still waiting for a partner to share God's love, I really recommend you to read the book. May the Lord teach us the language of His love, so we may grow closer to Him.
