Wedding Coordinator

I know my husband pretty well. We've been married over seventeen years, and I've had time to get to know him well. One of the things I know about him... is what he likes to order when we go out for ice cream. You know how they have a bajillion flavors of ice cream at most places? When we go, we both tend to get a little overwhelmed by the lists and lists and lists of flavors of ice cream, as well as how to put the ice cream together: In a sundae, in a cone, in a milkshake, in a bowl, with a waffle cone, with a cake cone, in a banana split, etc. (Reminds me of Dr. Seuss's Green Eggs and Ham: "I would eat them in a boat, and I would eat them with a goat, and I will eat them in the rain, and in the dark, and on a train...) Anyway, by the time I make my decision, many minutes have slid by and the rest of the family has gotten impatient.

But my husband will choose chocolate ice cream. No questions asked, no second guesses. He just wants... chocolate ice cream. And so, if I am required to go order for him, I don't even need to check with him to find out what he wants -- I already know. I know him, so I know what he wants.

Over the years, I've wondered if he'll ever change his preference. Sometimes we go, and he stands there and views the options, and I suggest things that might tempt him, and he hems and haws and finally just shakes his head. "Chocolate ice cream," he'll say. Maybe after 50 years or something, he'll surprise me with going for lemon tart or something... but not yet.

In Romans 8:18-27, Paul says a lot of really deep stuff. And this blog post would be a mile long if I talked about all of it, so I'm going to focus on my favorite, favorite part of it: "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And He Who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will" (Romans 8:26-27).

Just so we're clear: My ice cream example is a highly superficial and imperfect illustration, but it helps me wrap my mind around this idea: I know what my husband wants, even while he hems and haws and looks at ice cream flavor lists. No matter how much he thinks about trying something different, his favorite is his favorite, and I know -- with assurance -- what he wants, even if he feebly protests that he might try something different.

The Holy Spirit knows what is in our hearts. He knows what's in our hearts -- even when our thoughts and feelings are so jumbled up, we don't have much of an idea ourselves of what's in our hearts. And so, because He knows, He can take our requests to the Father and put in the perfect words that we can't come up with ourselves: "Okay, look, here's what she needs."

And the best part about it is? The Holy Spirit is the shop owner. He's already got the perfect order laid out, because He's known all along what He's going to give us. The Spirit intercedes for us in accordance with God's perfect will! Pressure's off. He knows what's best for us, and we want His will, even when we don't always know what that will is! But the Holy Spirit does know. And He's got it all lined up for us. He asks for us. He is for. us. "If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31).

There's this meeting place somewhere in the middle of God's foreknowledge and His calling, and our willingness to reach out to Him. And it's right there at that meeting place where we reach out for Him and where He calls us -- that the Holy Spirit lives. He makes all those connections meet. He pulls at our hearts and He brings the Father's will to meet us. 

When I got married, I asked one of my good friends to be my wedding coordinator. I had a million ideas of what I wanted the wedding to look like. I made lists and I checked out books and I surfed websites and I planned and planned and planned, but when May 22, 2004 rolled around, I was stuffed into a back Sunday School classroom (with a broken air-conditioning on a hot day), and no way to make sure that everything was happening the way I had planned.

But my wedding coordinator friend had sat with me for months beforehand. She had listened to my thoughts, hopes, dreams. She'd looked at my lists and made lists of her own. She knew my heart and cut down past all the fluffy "what if I... and how about we..." and she made it happen exactly as I hoped it would happen, even though I didn't necessarily have my mind wrapped around what I wanted it all to look like.

On the day of the wedding, she was in and out of the back room to make sure that things were running as they were supposed to be. I saw pictures later of her in with my groom and his groomsmen, straightening tuxedos and attaching boutonnieres and wheeling snack carts to various people, etc. She had a hand in beautifully decorating our "get-away car," and making sure decorations and catering and reception activities were delegated and running. When the ceremony itself happened, she had her notes out as she manned the door at the back of the sanctuary, lined up the wedding party, and told each person exactly when to enter and on what beat of music.

She was amazing (and probably could and should have charged me a lot more for her service than what she did).

The Holy Spirit is our -- for lack of a better word -- wedding coordinator between us -- the bride of Christ -- and our heavenly Bridegroom. Holy Spirit takes our hearts, our hopes, and prayers to the Father and He lays out those things in such a perfect array, that the whole ceremony works together in perfect, perfect, perfect harmony.

We can wait in peace for our Bridegroom. Because the Holy Spirit is bringing the ceremony together. It's happening, and we don't have to worry about the details. "We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us..." 

You know, soon, the doors at the back of the auditorium will open and we're going to see the Bridegroom face to face.

Face. to. face. Without the distance of hallways and classrooms between us. Right there in front of us. Aren't you excited? I can hardly wait.