Marriage, as we know as firm believers, was designed as a holy reflection of the sacrificial love of God. Marriage is pure. So, why then, do some people find it faulty that two people fell in love in two weeks, and got married three months later? Why are couples that marry quickly more frowned upon than couples who have known each other for two years, and got married three years later? It’s worth exploring why a long courtship doesn’t necessarily equate a successful marriage, and how a short engagement can lead to a lifetime of love.
God’s Perfect Timing
Time is not everything; God is everything. When God is first, His time is simplified and it’s not thought of in societal terms. God’s timing does not work around our timing, as though in an extra year, He will then do what He has promised. God’s ways trump our ways.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” —Isaiah 55:8-9
So, why doesn’t it take everyone five years to get to the altar? Why do some couples feel called to marry quickly? It’s because not everyone’s story is on the exact same clock. God’s timing and seasons are simply different for everyone. His hand doesn’t escape time, and He never goes by a clock like we do. The Bible says that we can’t fathom His ways, and that includes the way and time in which people fall in love. He wrote their stories gloriously and beautifully, in His will, not their own. For some this will mean waiting for marriage. For others, a short engagement is what God has in mind.
Letting God Work In Our Hearts
What if our timing is limiting? What if our timing is adding 40 years to a single year that we think will make all the difference? I will always firmly believe that time does not belong to us, but to the Father; if we carry time in our pockets, that’s going by our will, not the will of our Father.
We need to allow God to work in our hearts, to walk by His timing rather than our worldly time. It might even mean the opposite for you; maybe you thought you’d get married within the year, but God is instead telling you to wait another year for a different reason. Whatever the case, may you always press into Him for the answer.
A Short Engagement Can Be The Will Of The Father
Remember that your time frame has already been completely eradicated the moment God swept into your life; your life belongs to the will of the Father; by continuing to press into His truths and His Word, and by walking in obedience to Him, you will then joyously walk into everything He has for you in His good, perfect and pleasing will.
“For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night.” —Psalm 90:4
I pray you press your mind into His truths over your relationship. I pray you don’t allow anyone to sway what you know is true and real and from God. I hope you daily pray over your relationship and during your engagement, and continue when marriage comes. What God brings together, let no man take apart.
Interested in the opposite opinion? Try 3 Reasons Why Couples Shouldn’t Be Rushing Into Marriage