Since I am a child of the King I consider myself to be royalty, as should you if you have invited Jesus to be Lord of your life. After all, our Heavenly Father is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, so it is only fitting that I should be living the life of bliss and bon bons right? As a princess I am entitled, am I not?
Tell me...did Cinderella live happily ever after without learning to take abuse while maintaining her dignity?Did Sleeping Beauty live happily ever after without trauma and drama in her life?
Did Rapunzel live happily ever after without first experiencing loneliness & grief?
Didn't the Little Mermaid have to compete with perfect sisters and a Sea Witch too? Yikes!
Poor Snow white had to choke down some poison just because some witch was jealous. I can relate. Luckily our dwarfs were there to rescue us.
Even Belle had to pick herself up in her darkest hour and find it in her heart to see the Beauty in her Beast.
Why is it that we so easily forget that happily ever afters are so much sweeter if we have earned them and suffered to get there? To quote author Brenda Wilbee "For when we look at Fairy Tales we find it's not the absence of dragons-but the taming of dragons-that ushers in our happily ever afters!"
I don't know about you, but I have a basement full of tame dragons that helped me earn my happily ever after, but some of those dragons put up quite a fight and left a truckload of bruises for me to remember them by. If I knew then what I know now, I wouldn't have allowed so many dragons in my life in the first place. Some dragons sneak into our lives uninvited while others we unwittingly welcome in through the front door because they look so innocent and friendly. I personally would consider anything in your life that hinders you from fulfilling God's purpose for your life, a dragon. It may be a person, an obsession, a situation, plain old discouragement, or maybe just something you fill your schedule with that takes time away from the Lord. Whatever your dragons are and no matter how they got there, you need to tame them or get rid of them, but please keep in mind that you should never face a dragon without being prepared for battle.Ephesians 6:10-18 - Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
I don't ever want my fairy tale to be over, so I will be fending off the dragons until my dying day, knowing that I don't have to wait until tomorrow to enjoy my happily ever after. I face my battles of tomorrow knowing that I stand in the shadow of my King. My Prince has already come to save me. He has already won the fight. He has conquered the grave and is preparing my castle as we speak. My Prince of Peace is Jesus Christ, and I am proud to be a princess of the King.
