I’m told I’m a princess, but I sure don’t look it. I skid into the throne room, skinned knees, messy hair, and a dress that I keep managing to tear. If it weren’t for the King’s grace I would’ve been kicked out long ago. But for reasons beyond my comprehension He says He loves me. This beautiful, lovely, majestic King is the very definition of perfection. So when this mess of a princess shows up, all awkward and undeserving, it always surprises me that I’m welcomed with a great big bear hug. Because I so don’t belong here.
I’m freaking out because of the darn tear in my dress. He gave it to me, after all. So I would understand if He got angry. Every time I leave the palace I can’t seem to keep it together. It gets smudged or torn or dirty. And every time I run back to the throne room, expecting to be punished for it. I mean, this King is perfect, and messed up little princesses don’t exactly fit in His court. Or at least that’s what they tell me when I leave the palace walls.
Outside, their voices are loud, so it’s really easy to listen to them. And then the voices in my own head get loud too. Really easy to hear. My skinned knees, my torn dress, I’m so not princess material. The voices are so loud that sometimes I get lost listening to them while I’m on my way back to the palace. Sometimes I even forget that I’m a princess at all. And if I’m not a princess, well than who and what am I? So I try to figure that out. But it’s difficult. The voices tell me that I have to listen to them, what they say about me, because that’s the best way to find out who I am. It’s okay at first, but eventually it becomes exhausting. Because they tell me lots of different things, but mostly they tell me that I’m not good enough. Not (fill in the blank here) enough. And it’s not just the voices. I SEE it too. Every time I look in the mirror.
But the King, well He’s been searching for me. He sends His knights out looking for me. They comb the streets, never giving up the pursuit until I wind up back in the throne room in His glorious palace.
He crushes me in a big bear hug, but for the first time in a while it feels like I can breathe again. I’m on the verge of a breakdown, though, because I know just how out of place I am. “Look at me!” I scream. “Look at who and what I am! I’m not a princess at all!”
He just smiles and asks His servants to bring out two mirrors. I recognize the first. It’s the one I use every day. I step in front of it and cringe. There she is, the messy, unwanted girl with her skinned knees and torn dress and well below average looks. “What a mess.” I mutter under my breath.
“No,” He says. “You, the princess, are not a mess. But the mirror is.”
I step back and look at the two mirrors side by side. Compared to the second mirror, the King’s mirror, mine certainly does look like a mess. It’s cracked and broken and the glass is distorted. When next to the King’s mirror, this one looks like it belongs in a decaying funhouse.
The King, with that brilliant smile on His face, takes my hand and leads me in front of His mirror.
And what I see takes my breath away.
Standing there is a real live princess. She’s gorgeous! She’s standing tall and straight and without a single flaw. The dress she’s wearing isn’t torn at all. It’s made of diamonds and glitters like the ocean on a sunny day. A golden tiara sits atop of her beautifully done hair. From top to bottom, it’s clear this woman was born to be a princess. She was obviously created especially for this role, every bit of her crafted for a purpose and on purpose. It radiates from the inside out. This woman isn’t just enough, she’s more than enough.
And then I remember. I’m looking into a mirror. The princess standing there is ME.
The King, with a laugh that sounds like nothing I could even begin to describe, wraps me in another one of His bear hugs.
“See,” He says. “You were just looking into a broken mirror. Keep looking into my mirror. See yourself the way I see you. Beautiful. Chosen. Loved. Worthy. Valuable. Precious.”
And looking into His mirror, I DO see these things. But the most important thing I see is that I’m His daughter.
"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" (1 John 3:1)
And so to all my lovely princesses reading this, look in God’s mirror today. You are beautiful, chosen, loved, worthy, valuable, precious, and most importantly God’s daughter. A princess.
