The only girl I had ever considered marrying dumped me and fell in love with my closest male friend. It looked more and more like I would lose them both. Clearly, I was at a defining moment in my life; whatever I did now would have a lifelong effect on me.
At this point, God met me. He was there to comfort and direct me when I needed Him most.
I thought of the words of Jesus in Luke 6:27-28:
“But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.”
Even if Sarah and Brandon were acting like my enemies, I still needed to love them. As far as I could tell, they didn’t actually want to be my enemies — it just felt like they were. With God helping me, I decided to love them in whatever way they’d let me.
When I put aside my own selfish feelings and looked more objectively at Brandon and Sarah, I could see they were “meant for each other.” I knew they were headed toward marriage, so I took it to God and asked for help to respond the right way.
John the Baptist said in John 3:29:
“The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice.”
Brandon was going to get his lover, the deep desire of his heart. And God wanted me to rejoice with him.
I did not have a lover and probably never would, but I needed to actually genuinely be happy with him.
Brandon asked Sarah to marry him, and she said yes. And then he asked me to be the best man at their wedding.
He knew he would not have met her if it hadn’t been for me, and he still considered me his best friend.
I gladly said yes to being his best man. God had answered my prayer and changed my heart so that I was honestly rejoicing with him.
When Sarah walked down the aisle, Brandon was crying tears of joy. What he had wanted all his life was finally true: Sarah was the fulfillment of the hopes and dreams he had prayed and worked hard for his whole life. I was also crying out of happiness for Brandon and for knowing my friendship with him would be forever changed.
No, this is not the end of the story! My next post will be the final chapter of Brandon and Sarah’s story . . .
Have you ever been the best man in someone’s wedding? Is it hard for you to rejoice in others’ happiness, particularly as it pertains to marriage?
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