Rachel was playing princess dressed in full princess attire.   She asked her brother Ben to kneel down and propose marriage which, surprisingly, he did.  She turned him down cold.  When I asked her why she did that she replied that she is waiting for a "real" prince.

Weren't we all?

Little girls pretend they are part of the fairy tale.  They want the dashing young man to come and take them away on his white charger and make promises of living happily ever after.  

Instead, they get married.

At first, the man seemed most prince-like.  And certainly handsome.  Happily ever after got buried in a never-ending list of things that are always on the "to do" list and seldom made it to the "done" list.   Errands to run, bills to pay, and let's not forget earning a paycheck.

Oh, they're happy, to be sure.  But it's not the life of bliss the story books foretell.    "Happily ever after" isn't happening like it does in the movies.  Add that  to the fact that her first love shattered her heart... and no one seemed like Mr. Right ... and life just wasn't working out like she planned.

Too many tears and not enough of that enthralling, captivating love she has always dreamed of finding.  Her heart is looking for the love that will sweep her off her feet.    

It's why she watches royal weddings on television.  A real, live, fairy tale happening while she watches.  An ordinary person becomes a princess. 

It's why women watch "Chick Flicks."  We want to be that woman who inspires men to be a better version of themselves.  To have a man utter the words "you're lovely" no matter how we look at the time.

We believe in our hearts the love story exists.

We want to become the person we were designed to be by the Chief Designer.   

No one understands the woman's heart like the One who created it.  And He calls to us all today whispering "I have loved you with an everlasting love."  (Jeremiah 31:3.)

And the woman hears her Creator speak softly to her heart.  And she is totally taken in by His deep, undying and unconditional love.

Is this my story?  Or is this every woman's story?   Yes.  It is.



 
 
I knew that title would catch your eye.   I'm quoting someone who probably took a different tack with it that I am going to take.  I probably could have skipped saying that... at least if you have read these before.

I've read about some women in the Bible whose history is, shall we say... interesting.  Tamar, the woman at the well, Jezebel, Bathsheba, and let's not forget Rahab.   A woman who had a lot of... friends.

There is something that is easy to overlook when making a list of the bad, bad girls of the bible... God used them.

He saw their flaws.  Their insecurities.  Their sin.  He never overlooked any of it.  He held them accountable for the wrongs they had done.  There is no way to skate free when we go against God. 

But there is something else that is quite extraordinary.  God never cast one of them aside because their lives were less than they should have been.  We tend to think that if we mess up and have sin of any kind that we are no longer in a place where God can use us ... for anything.

Not so.  

God can use anyone who is willing to let Him use them according to His purposes.  There are rules, however.  It means understanding that things we have done need to stop being done.  We need to not only stop doing them, but ask for forgiveness for what we have done.  

Little parenthetical thought here:   saying 'I'm sorry' isn't repenting.  That's apologizing. 

After repenting (means stopping what you're doing, asking for forgiveness, and then not doing it any more), then there is restoration.  Jesus can use those who are serious about wanting to get back on the right track.

The bible tells us God used all of the women above in one way or another.    Some for examples of what forgiveness means.  Some for examples that God means what He says and He doesn't let sin slide.    Each of their stories was an example of God using anyone.  Everyone.   He's not going to let something we have done spoil His plan.  (Romans 8:28 and Jeremiah 29:11)

Not perfect women by any means.  Some have made quite a bit of history.

However, God allowed their history to become His story.  The story of Him working through them ... and that's really where everyone's story begins.