With my own marriage mere weeks old now, I can’t help but reflect on this notion that you have to be 100% sure about the person you are going to marry before you get engaged. Somehow this notion of “100% certainty” has taken over with many of my friends near and far. Allow me, if you will, to take a few minutes to dispel this notion for exactly what it is: a myth.

There is no such thing as being 100% certain about who you are going to marry.

You can (and should) certainly give 100% of yourself in marriage, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be 100% certain when you get engaged, nor will you necessarily be 100% certain on your wedding day. If you had such a guarantee, marriage would be easy and everyone would do it and be perfectly successful. If we could be 100% certain, divorce would not happen. But guess what? Marriage isn’t easy. You don’t get a 100% guarantee. There is no return policy that comes with your marriage certificate, no money-back, full-proof, life-time refund policy. It isn’t there and it shouldn’t be. With great risk comes great reward.

Are we seeking love or security?

Are we seeking a life-time guarantee when it comes to marriage, or are we willing to put our money where our mouth is? Do we trust that God will provide, that He will see us through the tough times in marriage? Or are we falling short of trusting that God has led us to this person for marriage?

The reality is that you will never be 100% certain that you are supposed to marry so-and-so. The night before Anthony proposed I was irked at him for something that seems so trivial now. Even the day he proposed I was still irked. There have been some pretty trying days in our engagement. The less-than-Disney-perfect truth is that there were days when I wasn’t as sure he is the man I was supposed to marry. (That doesn’t mean I didn’t want to marry him, but some days I was more sure than others.)

A little over two weeks ago, I donned my dress and walked down the aisle to Anthony. Filled with love, I still wasn’t 100% sure that he’s the one I was supposed to marry, because if I had been, this wouldn’t be reality. There are going to be hard days. There are going to be days that God stretches both of us further than we thought we could go. On my wedding day I wasn’t 100% sure, because in life there are very, very few things I’m 100% sure of. But at the end of each day I am 100% sure of this: God has led me to Anthony, to marriage with him, and just as sure as the sun will rise, God will be in the midst of our marriage, loving us, providing for us, and teaching us how to love each other (and hopefully our future children) as He loves each of us. Our security doesn’t come from each other, from knowing someone completely, from a pre-nup contract, or even from our vows. Our security comes from the only sure and steady thing we’ll ever know in this life: God. And that is the way it should be.

Amanda Sloan

Amanda Sloan

Amanda Sloan is a woman after the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus. Amanda is a Colorado native, who graduated from Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina with a B.A. in Theology, as well as minors in Psychology and Philosophy. Amanda, a director of faith formation, is the author of Worthy: See Yourself as God Does, available now on Amazon, Kindle, and CreateSpace. Signed copies can be ordered through her website. She lives in Colorado with her husband, and her blog can be found at worthy of Agape.

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3 thoughts on “The Myth of 100%”

  1. Pingback: What if Pope Francis Surprises Us Once More? - BigPulpit.com

  2. Welcome to married life. Darling you should be 100% certain that you will commit to include God as the third person in your marriage, to pray together daily, to do that which will bring your husband closer to God, to do that which will promote bringing him the good of becoming the person God intended for him to be, and be100% certain that your husband has committed to the same. With that commitment and God’s grace of perseverance, marriage can overcome whatever hurdles come your way in life.

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