Hope Knocking
I know this one bride. And if I'm being straightforward, she’s a skank. And to put it precisely she’s a prostitute but gets little to nothing in return for her “services”. She just sells herself hoping to get a cheap thrill but she always comes away empty.
She’s the biggest whore I know.
And what's worse, this woman isn’t just a single lady wanting to live wild and free. She’s a bride, a wife; but she is living as an adulteress. A repeat offender. Time and time again she whores herself out to lovers of every shape and kind, hoping to find something, anything, that will satisfy; while her husband patiently sits at home awaiting her inevitable return. And don’t twist the story, at home she isn’t neglected, beaten or abused; she is cared for, has her needs met, and her husband tries his hardest to love her. If she would only allow him to. You see, her husband is crazy about her, some might say hopelessly. In fact her husband is the most loving person I know, it’s almost like a fatherly love, an unconditional one. You know, that love that no matter how many times you wander off it is always there for you when you return? That’s how he loves her.
And boy does she wander.
She returns home from her escapades eyeliner running and hair in a mess to be met by her longing-eyed husband who cleans the stains on her wedding gown, knowing she will turn around and leave again dragging her dress through the muck. It’s as if she can’t seem to do the opposite. You would think that after being shown this amazing love, this grace, she would finally realize that the men in the streets can’t sell her what her husband is trying to give her for free. But decade after decade she continues her promiscuous habit. And decade after decade her husband continues his faithful one. And maybe that’s why she continues to go off, because she knows she can return, and takes advantage of her husband’s love. Maybe it’s because she sees the mess she is and despite her husband’s actions, she doubts he truly loves her, I mean how could he? Maybe it’s because she feels guilty because she knows he loves her, and she just can’t deal with that. Or maybe it’s because she so desperately wants to follow all the rules in her head, but can’t seem to manage, so in a frenzy of self-hate she loses control and runs to the streets.
If we're honest, the whole situation is a sad tragedy filled with pain, whoredom, and unfaithfulness. A lover’s heart, broken again and again by a bride who just doesn’t seem to care. But amidst the brokenness there lies beauty, a beauty that only experience sees; because to see the beauty here one must first understand their only possible position in the story, and that's the bride. Amidst her wreckage comes hope knocking at the door like a dear friend. A hope that defies odds and overpowers the mess made. A beauty that steals breath, waters eyes, and wrenches stomachs. A bridegroom who is passionately in love with his bride. The hope is in and is the bridegroom. Time and again his bride has walked out on him, and time and again he has taken her back. In fact he runs to her as she is walking up the driveway. His love for her never fails. It is never lessened by her sin and is never increased by her obedience because the bridegroom couldn’t possibly lover her more.
Even when she is faithless, He is faithful.
He goes above and beyond the call. No one would expect him to remain faithful to her, for the vows they once made she has broken far too many times. But he keeps his side of the bargain, because to him this relationship isn’t dependent on what she does or doesn’t. In fact, the way he sees it the bargain is no bargain at all and yet it is the greatest ever made: he gives his righteousness and all she can give is her filthy rags; he gets her and that's all he wants. There is no bargain here, it is one way love. All that matters is 2000 years ago he proposed, nail in hands, and she, with a zealous love in her eyes, said, “Yes”. And so they were wed, and so they will remain, for what he has gained he will not lose. This beautiful wife he has been given he will not let go of and his grip will never loosen. Not because she is faithful, but because he is nothing but. This is the story of a faithless bride who continues to say, “I can’t”, and a faithful bridegroom who gladly says “I do.”