A Real Life Fairytale
“And they lived happily ever after.”
Certainly, by now we all recognize this as the ending to nearly every fairytale we’ve ever read or been told. As children, we soak up the fantasy of a happily ever after like a sponge, and at some point during our adolescence we subconsciously begin striving for our own happily ever afters. However, it isn’t until our adult years that we learn that there was a typo in those books. It should have read: “And they lived happily ever after . . .”
The dot-dot-dot in this sentence eludes to an entire lifetime of emotional, spiritual, financial, physical, and relational troubles that the readers never get to see. (See how important punctuation is?) In adulthood, we realize this, but still we crave the adventure, mystery, and love found in these precious tales. At times, it can be somewhat depressing to discover that a life of adventure, mystery, and love will never be ours. We probably will never have the funds to travel to new worlds like Peter Pan, or the endurance to gallop through the Amazon swinging from vine to vine like Tarzan. We surely can’t count on our one true loves to save us just in time like Snow White and Cinderella. Life just isn’t that easy; in fact, it can be downright messy at times.
But I’m discovering as a Christian that fairy tales are still possible.
God calls us to a life of adventure, mystery, and love; we often just don’t recognize it because it’s a different kind of fairy tale. It’s a fairy tale that doesn’t laud the proud, but honors the humble. Our adventures exist in the day-to-day, in putting our full trust in God and relying on His strength to get us through. The dictionary defines “adventure” as “an unusual and exciting, typically hazardous, experience or activity” (google dictionary). Isn’t it unusual for someone to trust someone else with his or her very own life? It’s exciting too though; it’s wonderfully exciting to watch God move in my own life, to know that He, the creator of the universe, cares for me and has made it evident by being an active participant in my life. As followers of Christ, we may also be put into difficult and sometimes hazardous situations. Many followers have even lost their lives for Christ, like missionaries in other countries or even the current situation with ISIS. Sometimes the situations in which God places us may not be physically hazardous, but rather emotionally or financially taxing. Still, we trust and obey no matter how terrified we may be.
As humans, we all have a healthy fear of the unknown, and let’s face it, a lot with God is unknown. There is no one more mysterious than God. One of my favorite lines is in the Newsboys song, “Beautiful Sound” which states, “To have found you and still be looking for you; It’s the soul’s paradox of love” (letssingit.com). How mysterious is it to have found someone and still be searching for them? There is no topping that, and yet, that’s what a relationship with God looks like. It’s an exciting journey toward someone you’ve already found and continually digging deeper into who you are and who you can be with Him. How mysterious!
Lastly, in every fairytale, there is love. Love exists in a relationship with God as well; after all, he is the author of love. God loves us so much that He, the Lord of all, came to earth in human form and suffered, bled, and died to give us life and not just any life, but life to the fullest. While this may sound like a general, blanket statement, it’s actually individualized and intimate. God wants to have a relationship with us, each of us, on an intimate level. He doesn’t want to be a compartmentalized portion of our lives; He wants to saturate each and every aspect of them.
When we think of God’s love in such a way, it is clearly seen that we do live a fairytale life, especially those of us who are fortunate enough to live in a country with political and religious freedoms. It’s just a matter of perspective. By looking closely enough, we can see the elements of fairytale at work in our own lives, and if we live life as we should, in the spirit of adventure, mystery, and love, we are guaranteed a beautiful, happily-ever-after, ending.
Musical Paring: Barlow Girl’s “Beautiful Ending”
