While at a church meeting recently, a man was praying for me, and he had a sense that I had something in my life that seemed like a huge issue that felt immovable and destined to weigh me down forever. He was right. What the struggle was is irrelevant to the story, but there had been something weighing on my mind in recent weeks that I could not get past no matter how I tried to surrender or pray or ignore or any other tactic I could think to try.

The word this man had for me was that while it seemed huge and immovable, the issue was really just a tiny thing that God could/would easily remove, as the pea in the old fairytale, The Princess and the Pea. Other words were also spoken to me that night, and I came home feeling more encouraged and freer than I have felt in ages. As I journaled to document the things God spoke, I decided to read the story of the pea again just out of curiosity. (If you would like to read it, the version I read is here.)

As I read the story, God highlighted a number of things to me, and I’m amazed once again at how God speaks and how powerful stories can be in teaching us. Here are a few of the things that stood out to me as I read the story.

1. It was a storm that brought the princess to the door of the city seeking shelter. Lightning and thunder, and torrential rain… I don’t know if she had intended to visit this city or not, but the storm made sure she did. *I have certainly run into some storms that brought me to where I am now, and I’m grateful.
2. The pea was not a punishment or the result of something the princess did wrong. It was a test of her identity. It would confirm who she claimed to be, and it had to be passed before she could be given the authority/position that came with marrying the prince. *Sometimes hard things we go through have very little to do with something we’ve done, and instead, have to do with what God wants to do with us. Are we ready for the authority or position we’d like to have? Sometimes a test is how we find out.
3. The princess was hurt during her night with the pea under the mattresses. The story doesn’t say she felt bruised, but that she was “black and blue all over her body.” *This was a big one for me. The stuff I’ve dealt with seems miniscule when I look at it compared with the trials other people go through every day. I’ve felt guilty for how my stuff has affected me and tried to hide the hurt from most people so they don’t think I’m weak or whiny. But the truth is, we are allowed to be affected by things that may seem insignificant. Sometimes the hurt doesn’t make sense, but that doesn’t make it less painful. (At times, there is also the added guilt or feeling the pain is invalid.)
4. After her horrible night, the family is satisfied that she is a real princess because “nobody but a real princess could be as sensitive as that.” This one is a stretch, perhaps, but it struck me that the test of being a princess (child of a king) is sensitivity. * Obviously, there are different types of sensitivity, and not all of them are positive attributes. However, I sensed God reminding me that a true mark of His kids is their compassion and sensitivity toward the needs of others.

To be continued…