Article by Cameron Spink

Well the day finally came and passed and Prince William was married to Kate Middleton, or as they are called now, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. For several hours we stayed glued to visions of grandeur and general awesomeness.

Such an outlook on marriage is, unfortunately, not actually what is in store for William and Kate (or indeed anyone who marries). I am getting married at the start of next year and there is so much planning and preparation that goes into the big day. In western society we make a big to-do about the wedding day. I recall the commentators saying several times last night “everything has gone to plan” (even if it was merely the guests arriving).

It would be in our interests, however, to temper our hopes and expectations. Not because they cannot be realised but because, as the Minister always says “marriage is about the hard times”. I would imagine that even our royal couple will experience marriage difficulties.

A disturbing example of marriage difficulties is the marriage of Horatio Spafford to Anna Larson. They married 1861 and I can assure you that they were not the centrepiece of Friday-night entertainment. Once married they were faced with terrible circumstances. In 1871 Horatio lost nearly all of his worldly possessions to a fire. Then, only two years later, they lost their four daughters in a freak shipping accident.

Now assuredly William and Kate will not face torment this extreme. This does not mean, however, that the lessons learned by Horatio in his troubles and not transferrable to ourselves. Horatio Spafford is not remembered for the troubles that befell him but for his attitude of surrender to God’s will. It was this attitude that brought him to write the well-known hymn “It Is Well with My Soul”.

While weddings are joyous things, marriages are hard work. Yet God, in His infinite wisdom, recognised a great need for man not to be alone. He also wrote, directed and played out the greatest love story in the history of human kind. It is through His sacrifice and by his example we can say that through whatever we face, married or not, “it is well with my soul”!