My Cinderella Story

This story was written as the result of a personal experience with the LHMM. We share it with hopes that it might impact you as an allegory...

Once there was a girl who worked hard to be good in the house of the Lord. She worked long hours to be pleasing to her master the King (Jesus) and her step-parent (the LHMM). Her step-parent gave her a long list of duties. Working as diligently as she could, she always felt lacking, thinking that if she could just do more, she could be more pleasing to her masters.

The step-parent told her she could never go to the ball (heaven) or enjoy the finer things of the kingdom such as the Holy Spirit, for they were not meant for her. She had been born at the wrong time to enjoy such pleasures. It would be arrogant of her to presume she could partake in such joys as wedding feasts or ever going to a ball. As to her education, the Bible was a good book for her to read, but she should not expect to understand it on her own and should never use it like a textbook. It was written for royalty, not her. She could take application to some nice promises, but they were not written directly for her, only for royalty. All she needed to know would be provided by the step-parent. He had even written special books for her. She must trust him to teach her all the truths she needed. The step-parent warned that there were many false teachers outside their home who could not be trusted. He cautioned that the kingdom was filled with lost misinformed people and even liars that wanted to steal her away from this the only home she had ever known. His warnings frightened the girl into submission. She tried so hard to be obedient and pleasing to her two masters—the step-parent and the King of the kingdom.

One day a messenger from the King told the girl that the King wanted her to come to the ball and to enjoy all the palace had to offer. The girl could hardly believe it! “Who me? The King wants me to come to the palace?! Is it ok, is it really ok?” her thoughts swirled. It would mean leaving the home of her step-parent who had provided her basic necessities and her education. If she went to the palace, it would mean acknowledging that the step-parent was wrong and did not have all the truth. The girl knew one thing in her heart, that she loved King Jesus more than any other master. She felt sincerity and urgency in the invitation that drew her with magnetic force to the palace.

The King rejoiced when she arrived, opened wide his arms, and gave her a big hug exclaiming, “I love you! You are welcome here. Know that you are my daughter.” He was so delighted that she had come that he burst into singing a beautiful song of praise over her (Zeph. 3:17). The girl had never before felt such warmth, such love, such power--that made her feel clean from her head to her toes. He gave her beautiful new clothes to wear. In fact everything she possessed was brand new, because now she was a princess of the King! He said, “The Bible is my love letter written for you. I give you the Holy Spirit as a ring for you to feel on your finger and know that you are mine.”

It took the girl a long time to fully believe this, even though she wanted to believe. “Enjoy the ball, dance with me, dance with all the other princesses.” the King urged. The girl, now a princess tried to dance, but she felt self-conscious; worried others would realize that she was a new-comer. What if they asked about her past? How could she explain the old life and lies with her step-parent that now seemed so foolish? She wanted to dance, but sometimes she also wanted to run and hide.

It was only as the new princess spent intimate time close to her only Master, the King that she learned to relax, to dance, to enjoy the ball. She shared all her fears and worries with her King. He patiently listened and quieted her, melting all her fears away and filling her with the confidence and grace of a princess. “Come to the ball, my princess, my daughter” were the words now etched on her heart.

This is no fairy tale; this is my journey of deliverance from spiritual bondage.