Tara Laine and I shared some great late-night conversations (my favorite) that week. One night, she asked me about my love life. I stammered around and mentioned that I think I’ve developed more reasonable expectations for a relationship…and that I’m not looking for a Cinderella-esque story. “Princess stories just aren’t real,” I said.
She stopped me and said, “Now wait a minute…girls are princesses. That’s just how God made us.” I sat there, giving her open ears and an open mind…even though it wasn’t easy to restrain myself from blurting out something contrary. I’m glad I hushed. She continued, “The tiara just has to be removable. You are still a princess. You just have to be able to set the tiara aside sometimes, roll up your sleeves, and deal with stuff. But that doesn’t mean you throw it away!”
I got it. And I liked it. Sure, that’s partly because she’s telling me I can still be a princess. However, I think it’s also because it resonates on a deeper level and is a picture of how God made the human heart. Those of us who are believers are daughters and sons of the King, which also makes us heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, according to Romans 8:16. It would not be fair to stop there though. The verse I just mentioned has a conditional clause—“if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.”We crave the marriage of suffering and glory whether we realize it or not…because it’s central to the redemption story of Jesus Christ that is written on our hearts.
It shows up on the silver screen week after week. Think Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers…
Theoden: A great host, you say?
Aragorn: All Isengard is emptied.
Theoden: How many?
Aragorn: Ten thousand strong at least.
Theoden: [astonished] Ten thousand?
Aragorn: It is an army bred for a single purpose: to destroy the world of men. They will be here by nightfall.
Theoden: Let them come.
And in the minds of the smallest child…
Mark Twain wrote in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, “In order to make a man or a boy covet a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to obtain.” The very fact that a trinket, a ball, or a girl’s attention is hard to get—makes it so very glorious and desirable to a little boy.
I want to break this down to a few personal examples…
Pretty sure wearing sparkly shoes is more fun on nights when I’ve been working outside in tennis shoes all day. And doesn’t a shower feel better after working out then when you’ve just been sitting around? Do you not treat with so much more care that which you worked many days to pay for? And isn’t time with your closest Christian friends richer when you’ve been very much “in the world,” sharing life and loving those who don’t know the Father?
We must be careful not to separate suffering and glory by elevating and glamorizing the idea of the glory alone. Love prevails in times of suffering just as in times of glory. God help us from reveling in our regalia and avoiding the vital part of the Christian life called suffering. Let’s not miss the whole point. My best friend, Sarah Michael, shared with me what John Piper said: “The pain of our shattered plans is for the purpose of his scattered grace.” Praise God. Piper also says, “God is most gloried when we are most satisfied in him during times of suffering, not prosperity.” I don’t think we can be reminded enough. Our flesh hates discipline and suffering. We wince at pain and can’t get enough comfort.
And in the minds of the smallest child…
Mark Twain wrote in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, “In order to make a man or a boy covet a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to obtain.” The very fact that a trinket, a ball, or a girl’s attention is hard to get—makes it so very glorious and desirable to a little boy.
I want to break this down to a few personal examples…
Pretty sure wearing sparkly shoes is more fun on nights when I’ve been working outside in tennis shoes all day. And doesn’t a shower feel better after working out then when you’ve just been sitting around? Do you not treat with so much more care that which you worked many days to pay for? And isn’t time with your closest Christian friends richer when you’ve been very much “in the world,” sharing life and loving those who don’t know the Father?
We must be careful not to separate suffering and glory by elevating and glamorizing the idea of the glory alone. Love prevails in times of suffering just as in times of glory. God help us from reveling in our regalia and avoiding the vital part of the Christian life called suffering. Let’s not miss the whole point. My best friend, Sarah Michael, shared with me what John Piper said: “The pain of our shattered plans is for the purpose of his scattered grace.” Praise God. Piper also says, “God is most gloried when we are most satisfied in him during times of suffering, not prosperity.” I don’t think we can be reminded enough. Our flesh hates discipline and suffering. We wince at pain and can’t get enough comfort.
Trust me…I struggle with the prayers that flow from this truth and the implications this has for my own life. But I want true fellowship with Christ, and I’m pretty sure that means I need to know him in his sufferings…after all, no one has ever nor will ever suffer as much or to the extent that he did. He learned obedience through what he suffered (Heb.5:8). He was made perfect through suffering (Heb. 2:10). Therefore, we should see all the hardship and suffering that comes to us in life as something that God brings to us to do us good, strengthening our trust in him and our obedience, and ultimately increasing our ability to glorify him.
Now, when it comes to my love life…I’m definitely far from having it figured out, but I do think it’s safe not to run from the thought of Cinderella. I just needed to do a little re-defining of what it really means to be a princess, that’s all.
1 comment:
{sniff} -- Powerful stuff, L'il Mama. You really have a gift -- can't wait to read along with you....
Love yas -- Tara Laine
(does EVERYBODY in your family have TWO NAMES???)
:-P
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