What If God Had Said No to Cinderella?

Dreams.
What's the first this that pops int your head when you hear that word? For me, the word triggers a song (nothing unusual there, lot's of words trigger songs in my head!). It's the song Cinderella sings at the beginning of the movie when she's just waking up. Her birdie friends are twittering about cheerfully and she throws open the shutters. You can see the wistfulness in her eyes as she gazes longingly at the castle in the distance and sings A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes. 

Now, we know the end of the story. We know Cinderella got her prince. Her dreams came true and she lived happily ever after. But what if God had said no to Cinderella? No to the dream of her heart she'd been yearning for every day from that attic bedroom?

That's where I found myself a few months ago.

The castle in the distance I'd been dreaming about so long was signing a book contract with a publishing house (okay, since it's a dream of a castle I'll admit to fantasizing about a BIG publishing house). My manuscript was done and I prayed, seeking the Lord's blessing to take the next step--querying literary agents. 

The Lord said no.

Remember the scene where Cinderella is dressed for the ball and the step-sisters start tearing at her dress until she turns and runs, her hands covering her crying eyes?

Don't judge me for being melodramatic, but that's how I felt. Why would God say no to my dreams? I thought the Bible says He'll give me the desires of my heart?


It does.


He does.


Sometimes the Maker of our hearts knows them better than we do ourselves. So if God had said no to Cinderella then it;s only because He had a better dream planned for her. A prince and a castle and a life that may be completely different than she had ever imagined. In my case it was a prince I'd heard of but didn't know a lot about and hadn't considered because of it's less-than-stellar reputation. Have you guessed the new prince God has brought into my life?


Self-publishing


I'm not going to go into all the reasons why self-publishing is a good fit for me because they really don't matter. The only thing that matters is that when God said no to one dream, he opened my heart to another. 


If your heart is still dreaming and you're still believing, don't give up. As Snow White says, one day your prince will come.