I was once a little girl with big dreams of romance! Sure, I enjoyed riding my bike, baking cookies with mom, playing My Little Pony, conquering Candy Land, and reading (literally) all Saturday with my best friend Meghan, but there was a bigger passion deep down in the recesses of my heart. I wanted to be Cinderella more than anything in the world! Whenever my family went to the video store to rent a movie, I HAD to get the Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “real people” Cinderella because it stirred my heart and nurtured my dreams—one day MY prince would come!
The story begins much like the Disney version. The meek and mild Cinderella, with dirty ashes on her face and tattered clothes, does her chores quietly and without complaint despite her stepfamily’s unmerited cruelty. One seemingly ordinary day, Cinderella is about her work when a handsome man on horseback stops by her cottage. He asks her for a cool drink of water from her well, because he has been traveling throughout the kingdom and is in need of some rest. Little does Cinderella know that she has just extended hospitality to Prince Charming, and he would by story’s end, meet her deepest needs and fulfill her biggest dreams. When their eyes meet, he doesn’t see the unknown, broken, destitute, and dirty little rag doll. He looks beyond her outward appearance and into her very soul, there discovering a heart longing to be rescued. He would truly love and cherish her, and his love had transformative power.
At the end of the movie, Cinderella and Prince Charming ride into the castle gates to be married. Here, we see Cinderella in all her glory. Her filthy rags have been replaced with the finest white gown. The tangles in her hair have been smoothed and swept off her face, and her head is held high with honor, upon it resting a shiny diamond crown to declare to the world her position as the prince’s beloved bride. No longer confined to the corner, she would sing a new song and dance across the ballroom with the utmost grace. Oh, how I longed to be a princess like Cinderella! To be swept off my feet and into the arms of my love, forever and always.
We all know the story of Cinderella, but do we know the greatest romance ever written—the story of Jesus’ great love for us?
We are our Prince’s beloved bride, wooed and won precisely because we were meant to be His! Nothing can separate us from His true love, and He is incapable of anything but faithfulness—separation and divorce are not even options. We need not worry even one single day, because our Prince has great plans in mind for our lives together. He desires to bestow upon us a crown of beauty instead of ashes, gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of despair. Unlike Cinderella, we will never be confined to a corner—unknown, broken, and destitute—because we are His cherished bride and He is our mighty rescuer. Our Prince longs for us to continually draw near so that we may be transformed by His power, and we too shall sing a new song and dance—whether graceful or undignified.
I am now a grown woman with even bigger dreams of romance. I still long for my prince to come, but even if my earthly dreams are never fulfilled, I am part of a beautiful love story. It was written long before I was born and will continue throughout all eternity. My Prince fought for me when I was a dirty little rag doll. He made His proposal, transformed me with His love, delighted my heart, and is preparing a place for me at His castle. I know who I am in the eyes of my beloved. I am His and He is mine.
