We live in a culture that seems to assume, or at times even demand, that we be anxious about our wedding. The underlying belief of the wedding industry is that there is simply so much to do that a bride cannot make it through her entire engagement in peace.
Yet Jesus said the exact opposite.
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on.” (Matthew 6:25)
Well, Jesus wasn’t planning a wedding when he said that, one could argue. He didn’t understand the pressure and the checklists. He wasn’t planning a meal for 200 or going to dress fittings for an outfit that would be admired and photographed for years to come.
Sure, he wasn’t planning a wedding. Instead, he was traveling, on foot, around Israel, trying to teach people that heaven was available to them and hell was real. And on top of that, he was preparing to carry the sins of the world to death and back. I’m not sure we can really argue that Jesus was under less pressure than the modern bride. When Jesus said not to worry about what we eat or drink or what we wear, I truly believe that he meant that for our wedding days, as well as every other day.
So we know in our heads that we don’t have to worry or be anxious, based on what he said.
But how does that command move from our heads to our hearts? How can we stop doing something that seems to come so naturally to us?
We are told at the end of the passage that the reason we don’t need to worry isn’t that we have an excellent wedding planner. It isn’t an experienced caterer or a world-class tailor.
“Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all,” Jesus said, resting our peace not on ourselves or on any earthly circumstances, but on the character of the heavenly Father who loves us. (Matthew 6:32)
Bride, on this day, be encouraged. You can have peace in your wedding, not because you checked every box on your wedding checklist, but because your heavenly Father knows what you need and will take care of you.
And that truly is enough.