Have you ever planned a wedding? It’s a lot of work! In fact, it’s so much work, many people hire a Wedding Planner to do it. There are so many arrangements to make: booking the venue and the church, tasting the wine, food and cake, then ordering it all… And that is just the beginning. In the midst of all this planning, the bride’s most favorite part, though, is probably shopping for her dress. For all you grooms out there, this probably isn’t news to you, but you likely don’t get the same thrill out of shopping for your tuxedo. I could be wrong though (it’s happened before)!

The wedding dress, when you think about it, is probably the one most important thing that sets the bride apart from everyone else at the wedding. It’s not the most important thing at the whole wedding… For some, that would be the wine, but the dress identifies who the bride is. In fact, if the bride didn’t wear the telltale white, long wedding dress, you might not be able to tell which woman she is. The dress identifies her as the bride, in the midst of the rest of the wedding party and everyone else, making it a very important part of the whole celebration.

The wedding dress is traditionally white, long and extravagant; its purpose is to enhance and accentuate the beauty of the bride. Indeed, a bride wouldn’t wear any old thing to her wedding and she definitely wouldn’t wear anything wrinkled or dirty. It’s guaranteed that there will be no stain on her dress. The dress for the wedding is special, saved and set apart for that one occasion and most importantly, must fit properly and hug the bride’s curves just right. In fact, one of the final preparations for the wedding is the bride’s last fitting of her dress, to make sure she looks her best. Very often, a bride will purchase her dress well in advance of the wedding celebration and even though she has had it adjusted and fitted to her size before, a final fitting would still be done just prior to her wedding to make sure it still fits.

We are in unprecedented times right now. Life was going along as usual, we were going about our business as we always did, and bam; everything shifted and everything changed. Suddenly we all had to stop our extracurricular activities and we all are staying home. Suddenly, spouses and families have been confronted with one another, needing to work out their differences and get along, as we are forced to spend large amounts of time together under one roof. Interesting things are happening. Attitudes and behaviors that have been out of order are being put back in order. God is on the move, calling us all to repentance and holy living. Disunity that plagued families is breaking off and unity is being birthed.

Where are we in this hour church? Can we locate ourselves in the bigger picture? Are we in the last days, the end times? Well, we have been in the last days for a while, but just how close to the end are we? I don’t know the answer to that, but I will tell you what the Lord showed me this afternoon on a prayer call with a friend.

Church, we are being fitted for our Glorious Wedding garments. The Lord is making His final adjustments and alterations to ensure His bride is ready, looking her best and fitting into her white, holy garments as intended. The only difference here is God is adjusting us, not the dress. He’s altering us, not our garments. Our wedding garments are already made and purchased on our behalf.

Will you allow Him to make the adjustments necessary so His garment of righteousness fits? Will you allow Him to alter what needs to be altered? Will you allow Him to altar you? What exactly am I talking about? Good question. You’d do better to ask the ultimate seamstress and the ultimate tailor… the Holy Spirit.

Open our ears Lord, to hear what your Spirit is saying. Open our eyes God to see what you are doing so we can get on our knees and submit to your work in us. Do what only you can do! Make us ready.