Teneisha Johnson

Once upon a time, not so long ago, a beautiful daughter was born to the King of all kings, and the Lord of all lords. 

 

Her father loved her and attended to her needs as if she were his only child.

 

His greatest hope was that she would grow to understand how very much he loved her.

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The king was a good king and used his wealth to provide for all the people in the kingdom. He hoped that one day, his beautiful daughter would help him to demonstrate his love for his people.

This powerful king however had an evil enemy who hated the king and all that was his.

 

He despised the obvious blessing that was evident upon the King’s life. The one they referred to as the Evil one was bursting with envy and wanted very much to hurt the King, but knowing the King was invincible, the Evil one tried to hurt the King’s daughter instead. Disguised as a prince the Evil one came to the daughter to court her and win her trust away from the King.

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The Evil one used cunning flattery to draw her from the protection of the King’s castle by promising to give her all the things her father asked her to wait upon. She innocently followed the Evil Prince, and once he had her in his clutches, he robbed her of her most precious gift- her dignity.

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The Evil Prince dressed her in rags, smeared her face with ashes, and stood her before his evil followers, who mocked her and called her names.

 

Feeling immense shame before the contemptuous crowd, the beautiful princess retreated to the dungeon, where the Evil Prince had told her she belonged.

 

She forgot the words of her father, and only remembered the humiliation of standing in public view and feeling naked and ashamed. She vowed she would disguise her true identity so the crowd would never mock her again.

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From that day on, she covered her beautiful face whenever she ventured out of her secluded hiding place. The Evil Prince had convinced her that she was ugly, unworthy, unloved and unwanted.

 

He had separated her from her father and gloated in his apparent victory to hurt the King by making the princess ashamed of who she was. Her secret humiliation kept her imprisoned by the evil enemy who had tricked her with his lies.

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I’ve always loved a good fairy tale and perhaps you know how the princess in this story feels. Maybe her story sounds just like yours. The devil’s weapons against God’s children are his lies and he usually fires them against us with relentless force.

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It is difficult to love God or anyone else when we are looking for a hiding place. Shameful secrets can cause us to withdraw in fear that someone will bring our experience to the knowledge of others. Intimidation is a dark and dreary place in which to live.

 

Hiding feels comfortable at the time, but it is a lonely lifestyle to maintain. If secrets are allowed to run the course of their destruction, finding new ways to keep these secrets can become more of a demonic stronghold.

 

 

There is hope, however for those of us who can find a trustworthy friend to whom we can tell all our secrets.

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Many people have found healing by revealing their secrets to a person who can demonstrate forgiveness to them. Secrets lose their power if there is no longer a reason to hide their truths. 

 

We all yearn for acceptance by others and it is that need that drives us to great measures because we tend to agree to the opinions that others have of us.

 

Young people and children especially are most influence by their peers. If their peers want to imitate them, they are flattered.

 

If their peers however make fun of them, they feel ashamed and defeated. We must be careful whom we choose to be our secret keeper. 

 

If we tell our secret to the wrong person, they might use it against us and inflict more shame on us than we previously carried.

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But it is also comforting to know that if we share information with someone who accepts us for the new person we are in Christ or the Christian we are trying to be, we may feel liberation from our guilt.

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Another one of my favorite fairy tales is that of Cinderella. Everything Cinderella could have every hoped for was given to her, but there was one condition: She had to be home by midnight. Even the princess in this fairy tale was given instructions which she was expected to obey.