I don't know how many times I have watched different versions of the Cinderella story. My favourite may still be the original Disney cartoon, where the birds and the mice attempt to help poor Cinderella attend the ball where she meets her prince. She ultimately needs a fairy godmother to turn her rags into a beautiful gown and her pumpkin into a royal coach.
I've probably watched every Christmas movie about a prince meeting the ordinary girl and falling in love. The girl comes up against a wicked stepmother, a resistant queen, a beautiful princess, or an arrogant boss, but her true heart wins out against them all. I enjoy every step in the predicted outcome.
Sometimes I feel silly to still be so taken by such fantasy, but then I realize that my heart is preset for this fantastic tale. I, like many, long to meet my Prince. Our story begins at Christmas.
The true story has more complexity in its tale. Our Prince came in disguise. He was not born in a palace but in an animal shelter. His birth was announced to the shepherds tending their flocks. His humble birth hid His impressive royal blood lines; His lineage was a combination of heaven and earth. His human lineage came from Israel's patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the kings of Judah, including King David; His heavenly credentials came from an even finer blood line; He came from His Father in Heaven.
It is a fantastic story; one that is hard to believe. How could the Creator of the heavens and the earth come to the same planet He formed to look for a bride? He didn't come with a thousand angels, proclaiming His desire for an engagement with royalty or those meeting His rank. He came to a young woman who would suffer a bad reputation because of His birth. He chose to socialize with sinners. He called the hated tax collectors, those once filled with demons, and the uneducated fishermen to follow Him and share His kingdom story to all that would listen. He did not come to force us into religion; He came to offer us a real marriage proposal-one that lasts forever.
It is customary in most countries to have time to get to know each other before agreeing to marry. Jesus gives us time to get to know Him. He taught those who listened while He was on the earth and He teaches us through the writings of those who walked with Him. He describes His Father's kingdom. There is no violence or hurting there. No fear; no hunger; no pain. He says that He is going to prepare a place for us in His Father's house so that we can all be with Him. He continually loves us in spite of our failings.
I often look at my past and want to cower back into darkness, but He holds out His hand in comfort and reminds me that I no longer wear those rags. He did not need a fairy godmother to change our lives; He provided righteous robes for those who love Him. He gave us the Holy Spirit to lead us, guide us, and comfort us as we walk that narrow rocky spiritual road that leads to transformation.
We, too, have challengers. His arch enemy, Satan, wants to tell us that we are nothing more than a cellar maid. Difficulties in life try to convince us that our future Bridegroom does not really love us. These voices may be as loud and annoying as those of the ugly step-sisters, but they are lies. Like He promised, our Beloved will come for us one day. "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38–39).
Sue Carlisle grew up on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. An enrolled member of the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska, her passion is to encourage people to look at creation and see our awesome Creator.
Sue is author of Walking
with the Creator Along the
Narrow Road (2013 Indian
Life Books). She and her
husband, Wes, now live in
Thunder Bay, Ontario.
