Cinderella Made Me Cry

It was the Cinderella Story* in Max Lucado’s “A Gentle Thunder” that I was reading this morning…

I think I wasn’t really reading it intently (adv. with eager attention; concentrated) because I was just actually reading out loud to practice English accent. (hehe) But the fact that what I was reading was the story of God’s GREAT LOVE, my heart felt it and I cried. I just couldn’t escape the reality of HOW GREAT THE LOVE OF GOD IS!

*Let me share with you the story…

Kenny and his family just returned from Disney World. He and his family were inside Cinderella’s castle packed with kids. Suddenly all children rushed to one side – Cinderella had entered!

Cinderella. The pristine princess. A gorgeous young girl with each hair in place, flawless skin, and a beaming smile. She stood waist-deep in a garden of kids, each wanting to touch and be touched.

For some reason Kenny looked toward the other side of the castle. It was now vacant except for a boy whose body is disfigured. Dwarfed in height, face deformed, he stood watching quietly and wistfully, holding the hand of an older brother.

Don’t you know what he wanted? He wanted to be with the other kids, reaching for Cinderella, calling her name. But can’t you feel his fear, fear of yet another rejection? Fear of being taunted again, mocked again?

Don’t you wish Cinderella would go to him? Guess what? She did!

She noticed the li’l boy and immediately began walking in his direction. She walked across the floor, knelt at eye level with the stunned li’l boy, and placed a kiss on his face.

Familiar story? Remember Jesus hanging on the cross with the thieves?

Different names but almost the same story Rather than a Disney princess, we have the Prince of Peace. Rather than a boy in the castle, there was a thief on the cross. In both cases, a gift was given and love was shared. The lovely one performed a gesture beyond words. But Jesus did so much more than Cinderella.

What Cinderella gave was only a kiss. When she stood to leave, she took her beauty with her and the boy was still deformed. But what did Jesus do? Isaiah tells us:

53:4 Surely he took up our infirmities
       and carried our sorrows,
       yet we considered him stricken by God,
       smitten by him, and afflicted.

53:5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
       he was crushed for our iniquities;
       the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
       and by his wounds we are healed.

Jesus gave more than a kiss – he gave his beauty.

He paid more than a visit – he paid for our mistakes.

He took more than a minute – he took away our sin.

NO! Actually, it was not Cinderella who made me cry.

It was the Holy Spirit who reminded me the great love of God!

*A Gentle Thunder by Max Lucado. pp86-87