From My Heart to Yours
• Oct. 9, 2007 - Open Letter to a Princess
Shelley would like to share with you a letter written by a dear friend of hers, Esther Joy Shrader, to young girls at a conference. You can read more about Esther at the end of the letter. Without futher ado:
Dear Precious Ones,
I so wish that I could be there with you for this special and wonderful conference, but since that is not possible, I would like to give you a few words of counsel and encouragement from my heart. I will start by sharing with you my favorite verse regarding being a princess. Psalm 45:13a says; “The Kings daughter is all glorious within.” It does not matter how beautiful you try to look on the outside, the secret to true beauty is your heart.
So what do you look like on the inside? Bitterness, or lack of unforgiveness, will spoil a heart faster than anything. Be careful, because Satan will do his best to build walls of unforgiveness between you and your father, the very one God designed to protect you. On the other hand, one of the most beautiful things is a heart that flows with the refreshing “still waters” of gratefulness. It is such a breath of fresh air to the soul to be around the young lady who is truly grateful.
Be grateful for your father and all that God has done for you. Even though our earthly fathers may fail us, you are still to honor and obey him, and please let me encourage you to give him your heart to guard and keep safe until the day that God will bring you your prince. Confide in him, and trust him. Build your relationship with him and let him teach you and protect you and strengthen you towards the day when another man will be brought to you. Young ladies who reverence their father have no trouble reverencing their husbands, but Satan knows that if he can bring hurt and ruin to the relationship between you and your father then you will be sowing seeds for a foundation of failure in the future relationship between you and your husband. Be a “daddy’s girl,” and rejoice in his sweet protection and guardianship for you that the Lord has provided. Seek his approval, his counsel, and his companionship, and trust the Lord for the future.
I Corinthians 7 is also full of counsel for those who desire to be a pure princess. Remember dear one, that a princess is one who is waiting for her prince. If you occupy your time searching for that prince, or dreaming of his coming, instead of following God’s directions for a princess, then you will not in the end be a princess indeed, and you could very well miss God’s true prince for you. Verse 34 to 35 in chapter 7 tell us in part; “…The unmarried careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: … that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction.” Did you know that you are in such a special period of your life where you can serve our precious Saviour without distraction? There are so many distractions for you in the world, and yes, those questions of “is he the one?”, and “what would it be like to be a wife and mother?” will cross your mind and heart. Take these natural desires and give them to the Lord and be busy about the wonderful work that he has to do while you are single.
By God’s grace, I can look back at the years when I was allowing the Lord to make me a princess for Him without regret, and with joy. I can do this by God’s mercy, and rejoice that they were not wasted years, but rather very fruitful years of ministry. The Lord gave me many avenues to serve Him, and I was also fulfilled as I sought to love my family. I sought to encourage widows, taught children, ministered to our church, prayed for and ministered to missionaries, and served with my father in ministry to prisoners and juveniles. May the Lord open your eyes to the ministries of service that He has for you. I encourage you to also follow the directions of our King in seeking to attend upon Him without distraction.
As I grew closer to my King, it made it so easy as I served Him without the distractions this world brings. It is this secret, the secret of “attending upon the Lord without distraction” that allowed me to be “holy both in body and in spirit.” When we seek to be holy in our bodies, yet allow our spirits to yearn for the pleasures that young men offer us, or this dying sin-sick world seeks to lure us with, we became stained and tainted in our spirits, and many times in our bodies as well.
As I write this letter to each of you my heart is overflowing with joy. God has truly rewarded me for faithfulness to Him and His Word. He has given me my prince, a wonderful, loving, romantic husband, but most of all, a husband that fears the Lord! He has also blessed me with three adorable children. Our oldest just turned three. Yes, my days are very busy, but I couldn’t be happier than I am right now, serving the Lord with my husband, an assistant pastor, and our children.
I’ve only scratched the surface of what I would have been able to give to you had I been there, but thank you for letting me share a bit of my heart in this letter. So many precious ones have forever lost the priceless treasure of being a princess because they failed to “attend upon the Lord without distraction.” They have forfeited the honor of being a pleasing princess for their King, as well as His best for their life. As you reverently serve the King, He will make you “all glorious within,” and your life will radiate His joy, His peace, and His love as you testify to the world by your service and love for Him what a princess of the King really is, and that the King truly IS, because he fulfills you, provides for you, and has a “perfect will” for your life. My prayer for you is that you would be a princess for the glory of the King.
With love from the Heart,
Esther Joy Shrader
Note by Shelley: This dear sister’s testimony among the saints is pure inspiration. A tract written by her husband John describes God’s way for courtship and marriage and depicts the engagement picture of her and her husband John Shrader posing with a Bible between their upheld hands. Until their wedding day they refrained from all physical affection…their wedding kiss was the first ever. They married with the full blessing of both parents, honored the Lord in every aspect of their courtship, and were immediately involved in serving as the assistant pastor at John Shrader’s father’s church in Katy, Texas. Both John and Esther’s parents gained a vision from the Lord for a Godly courtship and seeking to honor the position of the father in both homes. Glorious has been the result …rich the fruit…and vibrant the testimony. Having served with these dear ones in ministry I can attest to the strength, beauty, and Spirit filling of this wonderful happy couple. May their tribe increase. May God do so similarly in all our assemblies for His glory. “When the enemy comes in like a flood the spirit of the Lord lifts up a standard against him.” |
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