"...and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform."
-Romans 4:21
With hair the envy of maidens near and far...
And a heart that ached for something beyond four walls,
Rapunzel was the typical girl, shackled by a belief, held down by a notion...
That girls were only meant for their hair, their dresses and for that damsel-in-distress mentality that sent suitors on to white horses... on full speed towards towers.
Yes.
In a Kingdom far, far away...
Rapunzel dreamed of being free – while others just dreamed of having her hair.
Imagine that.
Nothing new under the sun.
It feels like we are still living in a Brothers Grimm world in 1812 sometimes...
And I wish Rapunzel knew what I learned very costly.
Her hair wasn’t her crown or her escape.
(That had to be painful, after all... and quite impossible.)
But quite honestly, isn’t this what we teach little girls?
Whether purposefully or subconsciously...
We celebrate hair.
We celebrate youth.
We celebrate beauty and we wait... so that we can be swept off our feet by someone bigger and stronger than ourselves.
Maybe it’s the Joan of Arc in me...
But it took me a long time to fully digest that I was already in the perfect position, especially when I felt trapped, imprisoned and alone, to escape, to find rescue in the safest format, to never lean my head down a towered window for anyone simply willing to climb up for me...
In a way that was more dangerous for me... than themselves.
Valliant? Not really.
When I think about Rapunzel, I think about society. I think about Instagram. I think about how it looks.
The truth is... if this were reality, Rapunzel would need a lot of medical attention after her hair had been used as a rope. It would likely have been her demise and not her fairytale.
Fairytales paint this picture that only women need saving, but we all need a savior, and that savior isn’t any other man than Jesus. Rapunzel was already more loved than she would ever be...
All. By. Herself.
Because she was already so loved by God.
Nothing could ever come along to match that.
Trust me. God is more romantic than anyone you’ll ever meet.
He will rescue you in a way that calls to remembrance the moment you met Him. He will remember Himself all that He promised and never go back on His word. He will rescue you in a way that puts the danger in His territory and not your own. Where danger belongs, always pointed at the warrior.
Always.
Always protecting. Always guiding. Always enduring. Always placing the highest cost on Himself.
If you are in a preverbal tower, waiting for actionable rescue, I pray you meditate on Paul and Silas. I pray you keep saying “thank you” until you are free... “thank you” until the doors swing open...
And I pray that you only ever have to let your hair down in that gentle way, the way that says I don’t have to do it alone or ask anyone else.
I don’t have to do it...
God already has.
I am safe.
I am free.
I am whole...
Because I am His.