Two Brides, Two Bridegrooms

I experienced a very special day with two brides and two bridegrooms. And, no, it wasn’t a double-wedding.

There isn’t a more beautiful God-ordained union than the marriage of a man and a woman. From the beginning, God planned for two lives to completely entwine with His, making a cord of three.

It’s even more beautiful when you understand the earthly union is symbolic of the heavenly union. We’re told in Ephesians 5 that marriage is a picture of our eternal salvation, those that trust the Lord are the bride of Christ, the Lord Jesus is the Heavenly Bridegroom.

This beautiful bride was joined to her bridegroom in front of many rejoicing people.

There were tears of joy in celebration knowing the Lord brought together a couple who will bring Him much glory and honor.

They’re a beautiful representation of the earthly union, a man and woman pledging themselves together for life.

 But, there was a second bride that day.

Those of us attending the wedding were also touched by another bride and bridegroom. A precious believer met her Heavenly bridegroom face to face.

Our dear sister in the Lord, Rebecca Rankin, went home to be with Him, leaving behind her earthly bridegroom, Dustin, two beautiful little girls, Gabi and Karis, a large family, and an even larger group of friends.

We grieve, but only for ourselves. Her fight against lung cancer is over. Her pain is over. She will never again suffer, never again weep.

You might be asking why I would put these two events in the same post…why not put the wedding in one, the funeral in another?

My heart was impressed to view these events from the Lord’s heart. We look at the first occasion as pure joy, the second occasion as pure sorrow.

The Lord said,

But He also said,

Finding a godly earthly bridegroom is a wonderful thing, but isn’t meeting our heavenly Bridegroom better? The love Shane showed watching Isenija walk down the aisle towards him is only a shadow, a representation of what the Lord felt when He brought Becca to Himself.

He loves her.

He sent His Son to die for her. He longed to have her in His presence. But, to fulfill the desire of His heart, He had to break our hearts. Since “to live is Christ, to die is gain” is true, we know by faith  Becca has great gain.

The loss is only felt by those of us left on earth. Rebecca’s homecalling leaves a great void in many lives,

many hearts, many spiritual walks.

During her funeral service, the minister speculated there’d be many little girls named after Rebecca. There already are.  After working with her at Box T Bible and Saddle Camp we were so impressed we named out last daughter Rebekah Joy with the desire that our daughter would be as faithful as this dear friend.

But, by faith, in the depths of my heartbreak, I choose to believe the Scriptures, this is in the Lord’s plan, this is for good. I choose to not let my heartache cloud the truth that Rebecca is at the feet of Jesus, worshipping His Holy name, singing praises in her voice that is no longer cumbered by coughing and disease.

So, I am choosing to rejoice and praise the Lord for

and

Jessica, a dear friend of mine and also Becca’s best friend, bore her heart through the final celebrations in her blog, Blessed Beyond Measure. If you’re interested, click on the links to see how the Lord has been given the glory due His Holy Name.

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Becca blogged at A Cracked Pot. Here is her first blog post. I don’t know any fancy bookmarking technique, so I email myself the last link I read so I can pick up where I left off. Even though you know how the story ends, it will be encouraging to read.