“The King’s daughter is all glorious within…” Psalm 45:13
Last week I had the privilege of sharing with 160 precious women at a very special women’s retreat in Prince of Wales Island, Alaska. The theme for the retreat was “Destiny” — as in our royal destiny as Daughters of the King.
I knew that I was “destined” to be a part of the event, because of how God brought the invitation my way… which gave me the courage to travel 4,000 miles (over 20 hours and four plane changes) on crutches with a fractured knee. Courage that sustained me, even when I cut my head open on the roof of the little ten-seater plane, hopping on one leg up the stairs and through the door (it’s hard to hop and duck at the same time)… and when I broke my toe on my good foot in my hotel room later.
Did I mention it was an adventure?
I’ll admit I lost it for a few minutes after the toe thing. I mean, really? REALLY? I let a few tears fall, in my frustration. But then I laughed. And laughed. I’m still laughing.
As my dad says, sometimes the devil overplays his hand. Things go so ridiculously wrong that you KNOW it’s a spiritual attack — an attempt to discourage you, to defeat you. An attempt to rob you of your confidence in the Lord, your peace and your joy. Once you see it for what it is, a battle like that is a lot easier to fight. You know where it’s coming from and you know what to do with it. You know which weapons to use!
“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:3-5
And all weekend I was reminded over and over of the Facebook post that wasn’t… the one where I was sharing a prayer request, asking all my friends and family to pray for me on this trip. Originally I ended it by explaining why I really needed traveling mercies — that with my limited mobility, I would be totally, utterly dependent on the kindness of strangers. Completely at their mercy.
But as I typed the words, the Holy Spirit said to me, “That’s not true. You are NOT dependent on the kindness of strangers. You are dependent on Me. You are not helpless and alone, hoping someone will come to your rescue. You are relying on and hoping in Me. You are at MY mercy. And it is I who will come to your rescue.”
So I changed the end of my post… though I still asked all my friends to pray. And they did.
And God came to my rescue, time and time again.
He brought so many kind and thoughtful people across my path, people who helped me every step of the way. Including two different flight attendants, who — without me saying ANYTHING faith-related to them — spontaneously hugged me and prayed over me, speaking words of healing and strength.
To me it was God saying, “See what I can do?”
As for the retreat itself, what a fabulous time we had together… what a great group of women! I wouldn’t have missed it for the world! I almost completely forgot about my broken knee and broken toe and minor head wound. Almost.
We talked about what it means to be Daughters of the King … how to discover His calling, His purpose for us… and what to do with the time we’ve been given, between our “Once Upon a Time” and our “Happily Ever After.” We talked about how every fairy tale is essentially the story of a fall from grace, a desperate longing to regain what we’ve lost and return to our true home. To find a Redeemer who will lift us out of the ashes and rescue us and restore us to the life we were created for.
“For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Colossians 1:13
How we rejoice to KNOW that we KNOW that every word of THIS Story is true!
