no ordinary wedding

Michael and Brenda were married here on Friday.

Some weddings are self-evidently special. The Lord pitches up and makes the day his own. It's exhilerating when it happens and you know you wouldn't have missed it for the world.

This was one of those occasions. We had sensed in advanced that it would be so. And had prayed accordingly.

The service of worship was wonderful. The singing of the spine-tingling variety.

One lady from another part of the country (something of a 'veteran' of worship and weddings, I took it from the way that she spoke: she was certainly 'veteran', anyway) remarked that she had never heard singing like it - and certainly had never been at a wedding where the organist dared to leave the congregation to sing a verse unaccompanied. And that without any warning.

If ever you'd wanted to know the meaning of the phrase in the psalms - "the Lord inhabits the praise of his people" - this would have been a good place to start! If you'd been there on Friday, you'd have understood all right.

The forecast had anticipated rain. Instead there was sunshine.

It was that sort of day.

And it all continued on throughout the reception as well.

The hotel remarked afterwards that they had never had a wedding reception like that. Everyone plainly so enjoyed themselves from the outset. Everyone was so pleasant and courteous. Everything ran so smoothly. No one abused the free bar. And no one at all got drunk (not even remotely).

What explains a day like that? Two things, I think.

First, the Lord was making a statement. There are marriages he plainly goes out of his way to 'own'. This is my doing, he insists. My servants, my purpose, my call, my work.

This was that sort of marriage. He was glad to go public and make it quite plain that this was all his doing.

And then, as well, there had been for months such a huge volume of prayer rising to the throne of God. Such a cry from so many folk that the windows of heaven were opened and a deluge of grace was poured forth.

That happens. It's the real 'marriage'. The King and his bride. The purpose of Christ and the prayers of his church combining to effect an extraordinary day such as Friday proved to be.

You can catch the service on-line. The reception? Well, I'm afraid you've missed that!