"Who is the King?" The little girl asked.
"Why, he's wonderful. He cares for all the people in the land, He watches over them, and it is quite a pleasure to be able to serve Him."
This sounded pretty good to the little girl, so she agreed. She didn't really know this King, and wasn't always sure how best to serve Him, but she tried her best. Or at least almost her best. When she remembered, she would clean up the King's woods, or care for His people, or bless His land with her bubbly spirit and lively personality. But somehow it never really occurred to her that she was 'serving' someone she had never seen and really knew nothing about.
One day after many years, the girl was a little bit older, and had a few more years of this blind half-hearted service under her belt. She went with some friends and her parents and older sister to another part of the kingdom to help out some people in need. They went to a poor part of the kingdom where children were not as blessed as this little girl, food was scarce, and children learned never to waste. The girl loved it!
She really enjoyed taking those small children into her arms and snuggling them. She loved chasing them about and tickling them until the woods rang with their laughter. She loved to tell them stories, and to feed them what little food she had, and singing silly songs with them. And one day, as she was cuddling a small child she saw someone out of the corner of her eye. She turned to look, but the figure was gone.
She watched the rest of the day, but didn't catch any more glimpses of the man she had seen. He had just had this presence, and she was almost in awe of the figure she had barely seen, and had this weird urge to go find him. So she continued to watch for him. And the next day she saw him again out of the corner of her eye. Hurriedly she grabbed her father's arm and pointed to the partly hidden stranger.
"Who is that?" She whispered just as the man once again disappeared.
Her father looked at her with a strange expression. "That was the King, of course." He said in a voice that indicated his surprise at her lack of recognition.
"Oh." She responded, trying to hide her embarrassment, not willing to admit it was her first glance of the One she served.
But her embarrassment didn't stop her curiosity, and she looked more and more, hoping for another glimpse of the King. As she loved on the kids, she began to catch a glimpse of the King more and more often. She soon returned to her own part of the kingdom, but still the King was there. She began to look for Him often, and it seemed the more she looked, the more He appeared. He started to get closer and closer to her when she saw Him, and one day He came all the way up to her.
"Hello." He said, the one word sending a warm shiver through her.
She practically danced in her excitement. The King was talking to her! This became more and more frequent, and she actually got to know this awe-inspiring man a little more each day. She would tell Him her struggles and pains, and He would comfort her. He would ask her to do things and she got excited to serve Him directly and learn to better know how she could serve this man and His mighty purposes. She was willing to do almost anything for Him, and joyfully weathered more than one storm in His name.
But like every girl, this young woman was easily distracted. She heard stories of princesses not far away and the princes that fought for their hand. She heard of the beauty of the princesses and the gallantry of the princes. She loved any book she could get her hands on that told of women and the men who came to save, love, and cherish them. Thoughts of her own prince one day coming began to fill her mind. A prince who would be perfect in every way and love her for the rest of their lives.
In her conversations with the King she talked more and more of this hope for a prince. Without even realizing it the girl would zone out when the King was talking, her mind caught up with her future prince. When doing a task for the King, she would stop halfway through to go and pick up one of those books. Her time became more and more consumed with her wishes, and she had less and less time for the King.
The King watched in pain as the girl whom He loved so much was caught up in a storm of desire and lost sight of all that had once made her so alive. She rarely sought His advice or comfort any more, and He could see her falling farther and farther from Him. As He reached out his arms, it seemed the distance between them grew ever larger. For the girl was so obsessed with prayers for a prince that she forgot the King who had already rescued her.
This went on for a long time, and the girl experienced much pain as men would come along, but not a single one was her prince. The life that she had found in the King was in shambles, and yet she missed all such signs as she longed for something that was beyond her control. The King finally decided it was time for drastic measures if there was any hope for the girl, and He had one of his loyal servants sneak a book into the girls home and place it where she would eventually find it.
One day as the girl was cleaning her home and daydreaming as usual, she found the book. Curious, she opened it up, leaned up against a wall, and began to read. Her face quickly grew pale at the words she found. The book was full of stories. Stories of people who had gotten distracted from the King, people who had found other things more interesting. People who had lost their love for the King and were living pathetic lives as they sought out something beyond their reach. People who had taken honest desires that were normal and turned them into an obsession that ruled them and ruled their lives. There was a word for what these people were engaged in. The word was Lust.
And the girl realized something dramatic. She realized that in her actions she had told the King that He wasn't good enough. Her relationship with Him wasn't enough, as she felt the need to long for more. She had told the King in her words and her actions and her thoughts that He wasn't good enough, and she needed to look for fulfillment somewhere else. When she saw what she had done to the King the girl burst into tears.
She dropped the broom she was holding and went running out of the house and into the woods in her sorrow and guilt. She ran for quite a way, scraping up her knees and tearing her dress as she hurried on in her agony at what she had done. Then she fell, and fell hard. She lay on the ground merely weeping, wondering how in the world she would ever fix her mistake and if there was any hope for her and the King ever again.
But just as she thought the pain was too much, she felt strong arms lifting her from the ground and pulling her into a warm embrace. She sank deeply into their comfort, her body shaking heavily from her hard weeping. Finally, after many moments, she looked up to see that the arms that held her belonged to the King. He looked down at her with a sad smile, His eyes alight with forgiveness and hope.
The look in those eyes brought on more tears even after the girl thought she had none left. She clung to the King, profusely apologizing in between sobs. He shushed her, holding her tighter, and expressing His forgiveness. It was a forgiveness that only the King could give, and it filled the girl with a peace capable of healing broken hearts.
But it was a slow process. Over the months to come the girl had to fight hard to keep from falling into old habits. She despaired of there ever being a prince who could love her after she had engaged in such negligence of the King. But she brought all her pains and fears and the pieces of her shattered heart to the King daily, and He slowly but surely brought healing and peace into her life again. Her smile returned, along with a more reserved bounce in her step. She began to live for the King in earnest once again, and gave all desires for a prince up to the King.
One day the King and her sat in their favorite corner of the forest and the girl told Him about how hard it was to keep her eyes from straying when men entered her life. She had gotten tired of wondering if any of them might be her prince, and wished that she could just let that all go and pay no attention at all.
"I just want to live for you." She told the King. "And if there is a prince out there for me, I want someone else to find him and just bring him to me. That way I have no worries outside of serving you."
The King was silent for a moment before saying "Why not?"
She looked confused. "What do you mean?"
"Why not have someone else look for your possible prince?"
"I don't know." She waved her hands awkwardly. "It just isn't done that way, I guess."
"Since when have you done things the normal way?"
She laughed. "Since never."
He just looked at her with a slight smile on his face. This made the girl stop and think. What if it could happen that way? What if she didn't have to keep her eyes open for a prince? What if her father and the King could do that for her? She suddenly got very excited, thanked the King with a grin, and headed off home, her mind spinning. In a hurried voice she explained her conversation with the King to her father, and with a little reluctance he saw the wisdom of her plan.
The girl felt free! While other girls her age were keeping their eyes open, she was free to live for the King. She was free to let her father look around for a young man while she simply lived life. This made her battle with that ugly Lust simpler, and her heart was more at peace than it had been in a very long time.
Not much time passed before the King sent a messenger to visit the girl's father.
"There is this young man you should meet." The messenger said. "Your daughter crossed paths with him recently, and they related quite well."
So the father heeded the words of the King through the messenger and began to get to know this young man from another part of the kingdom. There was much correspondence and written notes between the two without the girl having any knowledge. She crossed paths with the young man once or twice, but even as she got to know him a little better she left all thoughts of a future with any man in the hands of her father.
She was completely unaware that her father, the young man, and the King were talking a lot. She noticed nothing till one day the young man came to talk to her and asked if he could tell her a story. As she loved stories of any kind, the girl was quick to agree. The young man told her of his conversations with the King, of the correspondence with her father, and how he felt peace about a future with her.
The girl was amazed and flattered and blessed. The King had given her a prince! And what a prince he was. He was handsome, strong, kind, caring, compassionate, and dedicated to the King. He was so much better than anything she had ever dreamed or imagined, and yet much more real than the fake perfect men from her books. He wasn't perfect, but his imperfections caused him to rely on the King for strength, and this was an incredible attribute that the girl was very thankful for. And when she told him of her own imperfections and her battle with the ugly Lust, the prince forgave her and cherished her anyways.
The girl had been blessed exceedingly and abundantly more. By placing the King's desires first, she had been given the deepest desire of her heart. And this time, she was going to do it right. Though her prince was one of a kind, she was never going to reject the King again. She is still striving to this day to place her relationship with the King first, as she knows this is the only way that she can truly care for His subjects and for her prince.
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