A Wedding Day is often the most important day of any woman's life! The excitement, the buzz, the beauty of the bride, the unifying of family and friends all for one big celebration is an experience that is a Kodak moment waiting to happen. With so much at stake, the spiritual element is something that is easily forgotten but in reality, is the one component that we really shouldn't say 'I Do' without!

If you are a woman contemplating marriage, planning a wedding or recovering from a broken marriage and wondering if you will ever experience it again, then the Precious Bride message is for you!

God has a desire for every single one of us to recognise that He is our Groom and we the people are His Beloved Bride. We were created to have a real, close, living relationship with Him to help inform our lifestyles, our choices and the way we relate to those around us.

Marriage begins with a promise between a man and a woman to honour and cleave to each other for a lifetime. This promise that began with the joining together of Adam and Eve has been replicated the world over for centuries, by people of all ages and races, but over time the brightness of that original promise has slowly begun to fade. What God initially intended to bring joy to our hearts and help build our relationship with Him as our ultimate Groom has been manipulated, stretched beyond recognition and re-interpreted. So is it any wonder that the length of time or the total course of our marriages are seemingly getting shorter?

As a Bride to be, we are encouraged to focus on creating the perfect wedding celebration and living the perfect life, but most of us are under or ill-prepared about some of the choices we will have to make in order for those blessings to become a reality. As precious women, we believe that God means what He says in the Bible, when He says in Jeremiah 29: 11-13.

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. [NIV]

God's desire to be involved with us and our daily lives in His way of ensuring that we live the best life possible. One without bad marriages, divorce or trial separations. But HOW you ask, is that possible? How can we successfully enter into marriage, run a happy household and grow in love towards our partners over our lifetimes?

The answer is by placing a premium on our relationships with God. This doesn't mean that we will never experience difficulties or hardships or that our marriage won't have it is ups or downs, but it will mean that in those times God's love, one that is indestructible will be the foundation upon which both you and your husband can stand.

By placing God first, as a precious bride, you are securing yourself spiritually, mentally, and physically so that when your own strength or capabilities fail, you have something stronger and deeper to draw upon. No, God will not be a crutch, as many cynics would say, but He will be a very authentic Presence in your daily decision-making, helping you, when you ask Him, to walk down the right paths for you and your new husband.

Perhaps this is something you were never told before and you entered into marriage with a different mindset. If your first marriage [or marriages] failed, God STILL has that same heart and desire for you. Just because you didn't make the right decisions or choices the first time around, doesn't mean that He wants to punish you or that you will never again get to experience this joy! That is a lie. God is loving and He is a God of second chances!

Similarly, if you are a single woman in a late stage of your life, yet still waiting for God to bless you with a life partner, don't loose hope! If you believe that you are meant to be married, do not allow the waiting or the words of others around you to distract or discourage you. Have faith in what God alone is able to do! But in the time you still have, make sure you are doing all you can to prepare your heart and your lifestyle for the season of marriage. And make sure you have a real grasp of all the work that is required to make that marriage last.

As a precious woman you have a great purpose to help God build a strong home and partnership where both you and your husband are free to excel in using your gifts to bless others, to raise responsible Godly children who contribute to society and to help expand His Kingdom in readiness for His return. Don't panic - His purpose for you will bring you joy and peace and it will usually line up with the things or natural talents or gifting He has already placed in your heart and enabled you to do.

Now this may sound like an impossible feat, but that's because you are imagining God intends for you to do all this alone! Not so. That is why He places you in community, within your workplace or family or friends, so that we can all help each other with this great commission that is over our lives.

We were never intended to rush into quickie weddings or to take marriage lightly. It is so much more than the pieces of paper that we have to sign or the rings that we exchange or the great receptions that we crave to plan. These things are all fun and exciting, and certainly have their place, but they aren't the Master's plan! And they certainly don't dictate which marriages will last.

God purposed marriages for a lifetime because they are a symbol of the eternal work that He wants to do with us and indeed has already done for us.

As a bride to be, you have a very important choice before you, will you enter into your marriage in such a way as many of your family or friends did, not knowing it is true value or worth? Or will you enter into it based on the values taught by the world?

Or will you rise up for such a time as this, to be counted upon and walk side by side with God in the unfolding of the purpose of you life through your marriage?

If you learn to stand as a Precious Woman, your husband will be blessed with; A fulfilled, happy wife who is equipped to be a good helper, communicate with her partner and manages her relationships well
A strong supporter who is learning how to run her own race but can always lend a hand
An encourager of dreams and ambitions, who ensures that they line up with the will of God, because she herself is endowed with His purpose.
A Precious Woman who is a wife to her husband but can also stand on her own

We want to help you prepare for your big day by making sure your eyes and your hearts are fully open to receive the fullness of blessings that marriage will bring and help you succeed in staying the course!

Here is the catch, until the true purpose of marriages are fully appreciated by us as brides, we won't see them last or be able to withstand the natural storms of life. Nor will we see them once again begin to shine brightly leaving a Godly example of how to conduct good relationships. So what can we do?

Whilst we may be searching for something borrowed and something blue, we can make sure we put aside time to search and then speak our hearts to the God who loves us.

And when we finally do walk down that aisle, remember that we are first and foremost Precious Brides, cleaving ourselves and our futures to our husbands just as we learn to give our heart and life purposes away to God.

Copyright: Anna Marie Hopewell, 2010.
For more information about how the precious message can impact your marriage, wedding tips to help plan your big day or to have your wedding featured in Precious Brides Magazine click here!