Good Grief? I don't Think So!
Little wonder, then, that I entered marriage with significant negative baggage. My first marriage quickly brought more heartache into my life. I had always dreamed of having children of my own, so you can imagine how distraught I was upon discovering that, short of a major miracle, my husband and I could never have children! Doctor after doctor and test after test came to the same conclusion: I was fine but my husband was sterile! It wasn't long before I learned that he knew of this before we were married but never told me. Instead of leveling with me about his inability to father a child, he allowed me to endure numerous painful tests before the truth came out. When it did, I felt deeply betrayed and bitter.
Online Love … Internet Style
On November 1, during John's next visit to Florida , we bought a house together. On the 10th I flew to Connecticut , John's home, where a justice of the peace married us. While I was there we also began to prepare for a formal wedding ceremony to be held the following February at my church in Florida .
Right before my trip to Connecticut a major miracle developed as a clerk from the county courthouse there showed us unusual favor. This development helped relieve me of any remaining doubts. When John and I decided to get married in Connecticut we discovered that we both needed a blood test before we could get the marriage license. Our plan was for me to have my blood test done in Florida and then fax the form to the clerk in Connecticut as proof of the completed blood test. John would have his test done in Connecticut . However, when John went to the courthouse for the license and the necessary paperwork to send to me, he was told that I had to be there with him.
Here Comes the Bride!
In every divorce we assume that there is a guilty party and an innocent party. In our need for personal validation we always try to fix the blame on somebody else and give ourselves the role of the victim. Despite some laws to the contrary, there is no such thing as "no-fault" divorce. And very rarely is only one partner to blame. Just as marriage takes two, so does divorce. In a divorce, both partners share the blame (or responsibility). The real victims in a divorce are the children; the innocent are the ones who are hurt the most.
It takes two to make or break a marriage. There is only one exception to this rule and it involves God's relationship with His Bride. The Bible speaks of God being married to His chosen people, Israel ; a people who proved by and large to be an unfaithful Bride.
I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries. Yet I saw that her unfaithful sister Judah had no fear; she also went out and committed adultery. (Jeremiah 3:8)
Did God Get A Divorce?
God loves marriage, and He understands divorce because it has happened to Him. He also hates divorce because He knows firsthand its painful cost. God's only Son was raised in a broken relationship; so broken in fact that He was killed because of it. Jesus willingly gave His life for us, the divorced and estranged Bride (and the guilty party) so that we could be reconciled and restored to our Father.
The New Testament speaks of the Church as the Bride of Christ. Jesus Christ, our Bridegroom, paid the Bride price for us not with silver or gold but with His own blood. The blood of Jesus paid in full the price for our reconciliation with God. Our divorce has been undone! Our covenant has been restored!
