A Marriage Proposal

23 September, 2014

A warm bread basket with olive oil, sides of both shrimp tartar with avocado and buttered mussels, two entree’s of surf n’ turf with mashed potatoes and broccolini, and a freshly baked apple cheesecake with vanilla bean ice cream to split. The couple had been dating a little over a year, and the man, a strong, confident gentleman with brown bushy hair and a light beard, had treated his girlfriend, a tall but quiet woman of twenty-five, to the new French restaurant she’d been dying to try, holding one question in his mind: Will you be my bride?

He was anxious to pop to question, doing his best to wipe away the dribble of sweat above his upper lip, trying to keep as calm as possible to ask once dessert was served. He’d had the ring in his pocket for months, having known the second he laid eyes on her she was the one. Her gentleness, servant’s heart, and femininity set her on a standard much higher than any girl he’d known, wanting to officially call her his own with all his might.

The woman was relaxed, not usually drinking alcohol but deciding to order a small glass of white wine to compliment the meal. She loved him with all her heart, loving his masculinity, his scruffy beard, his confident attitude, his protective nature. She loved his active lifestyle, his selfless ways, the way he treated his mother and sisters. Although tough, his heart was soft, unlike the insecure men she’d dated in college. She felt at peace in his presence, loving him with a pure love she couldn’t put into words.

Once the dessert was finally placed between the rose flowers and burning candles, he knew it was time. He pulled back his chair, knelt down on one knee, and leaned into her ear. “I never knew I could love anyone this way. My love for you is brigher than radiant emeralds, larger than Niagara Falls, wider than African plains, longer than the Nile River, taller than Mount Everest. I can’t live my life without you at my side... Will you be my beloved forever and ever by taking my hand in marriage? In turn I’ll support your dreams, care for you always, and place you before myself every single day. Be my bride and make me the luckiest man on Earth.”

With this, the woman burst into tears. She’d waited months to hear those words, yet she knew deep inside it wouldn’t work. She knew he couldn’t love her if he knew the truth. If he knew her deepest, darkest secret. She knew it would be over with no chance of rekindling.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. “Don’t you love me? Did I do something wrong? Honey, what happened?” Looking to him, eyes red and bleary, her lips quivered as she unlaced the covering of her hidden past. As a college student, she had a problem. She struggled with insecurity, finding peace in just one thing: retail. She shopped, shopped, and shopped some more. Having come from a modest, middle-class home, she didn’t have the money or resources to buy the clothes, purses, and accessories she’d acquired. Being upset at herself, she continued the cycle, buying and buying and buying, charging it all to her Visa with no clue of how to pay off the building debt. The damage was awful: the overall bill of her addiction well over one hundred thousand dollars, gaining more and more interest with each passing year.

She’d been working hard as a teacher, doing her best to work on the debt, but it was hopeless. She knew it was weighing over her like a dark cloud, the charges sky-rocketing each year, and she knew she could never pay it off. It darkened her every moment, pounding sadness into her heart like a stone hammer. She loved this man, but with fear of losing him had never gained the confidence to share the secret. She felt disgusting, she felt broken, and she felt hopeless. Sure, he loved her, but how could she allow him to take on this burden? He could find a million girls like her, why would he marry her knowing what he’d have to take on?

After sharing about her brokenness, she nervously shut her eyes, knowing it was over. She knew he’d get up, walk out, and never look back. She knew he’d be furious. She knew her wrongs could never be repaid, both figuratively and literally. It was done, and she knew it.

Opening her eyes, she expected an empty floor, but what she saw astonished her. His smile stretched ear to ear, and his arms were outstretched toward her small body. “Honey, there is nothing you could say that could ever change my mind. My darling, my sweet sweet gem, I have a secret as well. My father’s company is not the small business I always described. My baby, it’s a multimillion dollar retail operation. My father probably does contracting with the very stores you owe money to, and I’m being given the reigns to the company once I finish my masters this year. My future is brighter than you could’ve ever guessed, and you will be a part of it. I love you to the moon and back, and no secret of yours will ever undo it.”

With that, the woman jumped out of her seat, clung to his outstretched arms, and the rest is history. They lived a long, beautiful life together, paying off the debt in a matter of weeks without ay talk of it again. Her chains were gone, she’d been set free, and she lived a life of freedom thereafter.

As a woman of Christ, I my story was no different. Instead of retail therapy, I turned to a weight obsession, boy attention, a party lifestyle, and acceptance of others as my idols. Before knowing Prince Jesus, I was a wreck, trying my best to shake away my debt but failing time and time again.

Becoming a Christian is no different than accepting a marriage proposal. Like the man in the story, Jesus had a father in Heaven with ultimate supremacy, able to wipe away our past without blinking an eye. We can trust His invitation is final; Christ would never and will never turn His back on us. He is faithful to the end, and we will never be anything but beautiful in His eyes. Instead of shrinking back in shame, He places a gown on our body, a crown on our head, and a 5 carat ring on our finger. We are the one, true bride of Christ, and our past, present, or future wrongs won’t ever change that. “I will never leave you, I will never abandon you,” Christ says in Hebrews, and with tears of joy in His eyes, He means it.