I Cried Too

Hey!
So here is the other one. I hope it is as fun and fulfilling for you to read as it was for me to write. Enjoy!
May this make you think,
Jen

-

Jen turned to me. Her eyes showed the sadness that I felt. "I look at you, and I see me, your majesty. I look at you and I see the darkness that once gripped my heart. I understand, my lord. I get it. I walked down that same path that you did."

I shook my head. "No, not you. You are the purest form of love that I have ever come across-"

"I wasn't always like this. I was angry, I was bitter. I was jealous and crude and all the things that God is not. I still struggle against my weak flesh. I struggle with the anger, the sadness, and the hatred that threaten to consume me. But that's the beauty of Jesus. He made it okay to struggle. He made it okay to stumble. He made it okay. But He never let us fall.

"That day, in the ocean, when I was drowning, I should have been dead in a mere minute, but the raging oceans kept me afloat, instead of causing my death. That was the day I found God. I had fallen off the ship, cast off by the waves, but I wasn't harmed. That was no mere slip up of nature. That was God's divine hand. His love for me gave me another chance; a chance to turn.

"But God has had His hand on me from before the foundation of the world. I look back on my life and see His handiwork through it all. He made me who I am today. And I can't praise Him enough for sacrificing His Son for for the world, for me, and for you."

"How do I know that this "god" of yours won't just dump me after I screw up enough?"

"Because Romans 8:38-39 says 'For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.'

"If He loves us this much, how can you think that He would give up His chosen?"

I wanted to cry, truly I wanted to cry. We were alone in the council chamber, not even a guard, and my best friend knew me well enough to say, "Go ahead. It's okay. I cried too. Sometimes I still do. You can cry James."

No one had called me by my name since I was a prince, and then it was only Jen, who at that time was only my maidservant. The pure and utter love with which she called me by name, that was what pushed me over the edge and made me break down in tears. 

Jen came up and hugged me. "It's okay. Your eyes have been opened. Praise God."

"Indeed; praise God." 

Jen smiled wiping the tears from my face. "So, do you say yes? Do you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior?"

I looked up at her, and suddenly found my voice. "Yes. I accept Him."

"Hallelujah!" 

After some teaching from the Word, a few weeks later I was baptized. And after the ceremony, I walked up to Jen, dripping wet in white, and took her face in my hands. 

"Six years ago, right here, I asked you a question and you refused your consent on the grounds of my unbelief in the Lord on high. But now we are both equally yoked and pulling in the same direction, is your love for me the same?"

She smiled a watery smile, as happy tears fell. "It never lessened. If anything, it only deepened. The Lord cultivated it."

My smile grew hopeful. "Then will you consent to give me your hand?" 

"My lord," 

Oh no, I thought, she's going to reject me again. 

"My lord," she began again. "I wholeheartedly give my consent."

And with those few joyous words, I captured her lips with mine. I pulled away to mutter one of the verses I had memorized. " 'You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you.' "

-

You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you. (‭Song of Solomon‬ ‭4‬:‭7‬ ESV)