Happily Ever After

Hi, I'm Charlyn and I blog at charlynsheart.blogspot.com. This is what I have discovered about happily ever afters...

I just love a fairy tale…sweet romance and happily ever afters. What girl doesn't dream of meeting her very own Prince Charming? It's the reason we girls love a chick flick!  A charming fella and a beautiful girl who are looking for love. They go through the whole movie falling for one another and overcoming their struggles. There is usually a betrayal of some sort but, at the very end, love conquers and you leave the movie feeling happy and wishing that were your very own fairy tale story.

I want to put a spin on one of my favorite love stories of all time - the classic fairytale of Cinderella. I think we all have something in common with her. She was given a life she did not ask for. I’m sure that being a maid for her stepmother and stepsisters was not on her bucket list of life goals.  The family she was left with were just downright cruel. They belittled her, took advantage of her, and made her feel used and unloved. Isn't that how we all feel sometimes? I'm sure these feelings caused her to have low self-esteem as well as a long list of other insecurities. She was hopeless because she would never be anything more than a servant. Until one day, when an invitation to the Princes’ Ball arrived for all the eligible women of the household. Of course, her stepmother and stepsisters excluded her; she was just Cinderella, a no one.  

While they demanded Cinderella's help in finding them something to wear, Cinderella probably heard the little voices in her head telling her she isn't good enough to attend this Ball, and even if she did go, there's no way the Prince would choose her. Let's be real, she cleans toilets for goodness sake! Thankfully, the little mice and birds knew more than she did, so they convinced her to go to the ball. They helped her make a dress and, of course, she looked like a princess. For once in her life Cinderella felt and believed she was beautiful. All of Cinderella's dreams came true when the Prince found her to be the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

Dancing all night, Cinderella doesn’t even realize that it is almost midnight, and with each tick of the clock, her dream slowly begins to fade. She panics when the clock strikes twelve and tells the Prince that she has to leave, though he begs her to stay. She runs away leaving behind her glass slipper, but when she looks back and sees it on the stairs, she's too afraid to return. She knows her time is short.  So, she runs from the room and leaves the slipper there for the Prince to find, and with the twelfth strike of the clock, her life of servitude returns.

One day, there’s a knock at the door.  The Prince had ordered his men to find the woman whose foot fit the glass slipper. The stepmother cannot stand the possibility that it might fit Cinderella, so she locks her in the attic. Once again, the mice intervene and save Cinderella. She escapes down the stairs just as the glass slipper falls to the floor and shatters. Everyone is distraught because now the beautiful girl who won the heart of the Prince will never be found. It was then when Cinderella pulled the matching slipper out of her pocket and put it on to show that it fit perfectly. In the end, Cinderella marries her Prince and they live happily ever after.

Just as the Prince chose Cinderella, God has chosen us. We too, have a glass slipper which is our destiny, our calling. And it will only fit us. As long as you dance with your God, no one can take your destiny from you.  Just as the wicked stepmother tried to prevent Cinderella from going to the Ball, so too will Satan try to prevent you from experiencing God’s blessings. Satan knows that once you meet your Savior, you will have your glass slipper. Satan will do whatever he can to keep you locked in the attic so that you never get to try on your glass slipper. Thank God, the Holy Spirit intervenes on our behalf and unlocks the door that holds us captive.  Do not believe that your life cannot be fulfilling, that life without hopes and dreams are all there is and that this is all you will ever be.  That's the enemy working against you! There is so much more to this life than the stress of our mundane routine. Unfortunately, we still give into the lies and live a life of unnecessary defeat. You are God’s princess! You were made for so much more. You will live happily ever after with your God. Don't leave your glass slipper behind because you're afraid of what will happen when you follow the path God has laid out for you…live it with confidence. 

God desires to be you’re happily-ever-after...will you dance with the One who thinks you are the most beautiful thing He has ever seen?  I pray so.

- Charlyn