Every little girl knows by heart the iconic tale of the humble servant girl who gets swept off her feet by Prince Charming and moves to a palace on a hill to live happily ever after. The story is second nature to us, you could argue that (as little girls) it was written on our hearts since the first time we flipped through the picture book of the dainty gal with the elegant glass slippers. A true princess. We long to be her, to be sought after and pursued by the prince. Growing up my mom and dad would call me princess like it was my name. Mom would read me books of kings and kingdoms and dad would twirl me around in my frilly pink pjs before I danced off to bed. I didn’t own glass slippers and I had no royal subjects (besides my fluffy cat) but I knew that my Father was the King.
Cinderella was a princess long before her fairy godmother showed up. Little girls don’t often dress up by rolling around in the ashes in the fireplace (although me and my sisters were caught in that act several times when we were younger) but the young girl had a heart of service and a spirit of praise that truly made her royalty even in her filthy rags. Im certain a grumbling slob wouldn’t have been eligible for the services of a fairy godmother. Cinderella had the audacity to sing in her circumstance. She had NO IDEA someday she would be going to a royal ball. Every time we go back and read the tale again from the beginning, we know Prince Charming will heroically show up in just a few short pages, but Cinderella is up there in her little room and she sees no breakthrough in sight. Her life is scum, she has no one, her future is hopeless, and she plays with rats and cockroaches and stuff (which, supposedly rats make incredible pets by the way and are very family friendly so lets have a talk mom and dad) YET SHE SINGS. And dances. And has a stinkin good attitude.
The other day at my ministry, our host told us to dump soap on the floor and get out the hose and just start scrubbing down everything. At first we thought we had interpreted his Spanish wrong, there was no way he actually wanted us to flood this one room schoolhouse. But sure enough, after double checking it with good ole google translate, we started rolling up our sleeves and tying up our hair. That turned out to be one of the best days Ive had this far in Costa Rica. Soap and water everywhere. The floor was several inches underwater. Ive never felt more like cinderella than I did in those moments when my denim dress was sopping wet and my feet were ankle deep in soap suds. We were on our hands and knees scrubbing tables and chairs and walls but somewhere in the process we decided to do it joyfully. By the looks on our faces you would’ve thought we were toddlers at our favorite waterpark. We danced with brooms, we were soapy stars in a worship concert playing air guitar on mops, we attempted to slide across the floor like penguins (we failed miserably) but by the end of the day, even the teacher (Davis) was dumping water on us and having the time of his life.
Im not saying all this to imply that we are a team of just perfect angles that never whine or complain, who do every job with a happy heart and a joyful spirit. We definitely aren’t. But why shouldn’t we be? Why don’t all believers have a cinderella mindset? We have absolutely every reason in the world to rejoice in any circumstance. It is such a privilege to be servants for Christ. Such an honor to serve in His kingdom here on earth. How much more should our hearts be singing, knowing what we know as believers. The creator of the universe has asked us to call him Father, the King of the world LOVES US. We are His children, His chosen, His beloved. We know whats coming after this life… an eternity better than we can possibly imagine. Our robes of righteousness will be far better crafted than the work of any plump old lady with a sparkly wand. We will each be chosen not only to dance with the King himself, but to be His bride. And the shoe in His hand ONLY fits YOU.
