Saturday, January 27, 2018

What Fairy Tale?

As I was studying the lives of Jacob, Leah, and Rachel in the Bible today (Genesis 29-30)--talk about a no-win situation for everyone!--I was struck by the thought, what about the fairy tale ending? Does anyone ever get the fairy tale ending?  Does anyone actually get to live "happily ever after?" Or is that just another lie the devil has sold us over time and tradition, woven into the fabric of our Hallmark channel stories, and Nicholas Sparks novels that we've come to sigh with content and satisfaction when all the loose ends at the end of the story are tied up neatly into a bow?

I don't know about you, but half my frustration in life stems from so many loose ends that dangle in the wind!  Some of them, there's no hope of them being tied to my satisfaction in this lifetime. Death of any kind--dreams, hopes, loved ones, a business--often leaves so many loose ends that to assume a fairy tale ending is around the corner is naive at best, the cause of lunacy at worst, but for most of us, it's somewhere in the uncomfortable middle ground of trying to reconcile what the world says is possible with what is actually happening in our lives.

As much as something inside of me wants to believe the fairy tale ending is achievable, eventually, as you start to grow in your faith and walk with the Lord, you begrudgingly accept that in this life, there is no. such. thing.

Don't get me wrong. I have a prince-charming of a husband, and some would look at our life and say we've pretty much sailed off into the sunset (literally), but you don't know what you don't know. I won't pretend to complain about my life either. God has blessed us. No arguments, but He also requires much of us as a family of four, as parents of two, as a wife and husband, as children of God. To whom much is given, much is required (Luke 12:48), and we gladly bear the burden of what it means to be grateful and trustworthy stewards (Matthew 25:14-30), which means we still work hard every day in ways most people don't see and don't know.  And that's ok, because don't we all? Work hard? Every day? In ways most people don't see and don't know?

The point is, it's not a fairy tale life.  It never is. I don't care what someone's Facebook page or Instagram stories show about their lives. It's NOT a fairy tale, and to try and prove that it is to a world that is selling you that lie to begin with is like an addict trying to convince their own dealer they don't need drugs while handing them money for the next batch.

People, my fairy tale is Jesus! Seriously. If you see my life and even once think how great I've got it, I pray your next thought is, "Well, she does love Jesus," and if you look at my life and shake your head in pity, compassion, or concern at any point, I hope I've lived in such a way that your next thought is, "I'm so grateful she has Jesus."

Because I'm done striving for the lie that is the fairy tale ending. I'm at a crossroads where I have no idea what the next half of my life is gonna look like. I'm two years from forty, and it feels like the whole world is just beginning to stretch out at my fingertips, just out of reach and yet just within reach all at the same time. And if I'm striving for the fairy tale ending, this is the point in the story where things should be getting exciting and then it's all a downhill ride to the finish line.

Nuh, uh. I don't want that. I want Jesus and all the ups, downs, twists, turns, and loops that come with following Him. I want all the cross-bearing and world-suffering and self-denying. I want to rest in knowing that He's still got a heck of a ride ahead of me, so if this is a breather, I better enjoy it and catch my breath. If there's a lull in the waves when you're paddling out, you sit up on your board and soak in the sun, and you rest, but you never get completely comfortable. Comfortable and happy is how fairy tales end, which is why they are a lie because anyone who's ever lived knows another set of something is coming.  Good or bad, high or low, another set of waves is coming, another mountain climb or valley descent.

The world has sold us a story line that's been read to us since our childhood and played out in our favorite movies. A lie, literally spoon fed to us by the best of parents, myself included. Bad things will happen in your story, but in the end, if you're a good person, everything will turn out all right.  You'll get your happy ending, your happily ever after, your prince charming and castle of choice. You'll live in peace the rest of your days. Work hard, be good to others, and life will eventually do right by you. The devil has us convinced--maybe just our own flesh because of this sinful world, has us convinced--that this is possible this side of heaven. 

And when I was younger, I bought that lie and swallowed it whole and set my heart on achieving the fairy tale. Then I started making friends with people who are just like Leah from the Bible (Genesis 29). I realized there were desires in my heart, that made me just like Leah. She never got her fairy tale ending. She lived her entire life unloved and unseen by the one man who should have at least tried to love her--her own husband. She played second fiddle to the pretty girl, her own sister, her whole life. She never got her happily ever after, and no amount of sons would win her husband's affection for her.

But for God, her life is pitiful. But for God.  GOD saw Leah. (Genesis 29:31) God opened her womb. God gave her the honor of sons. God gave her Levi, future heir to the tribe of priests. God gave her Judah, future heir in the line of King David and ultimately Jesus Christ. GOD made sure her name was remembered for all of history through the family tree of Jesus Christ. God orchestrated the circumstances for her to be the one honored to be buried next to her husband. God did all that. Not her. God gave her a legacy that is so much more than a fairy tale, by His mercy and grace alone.

She never got the fairy tale life, but she got a God-ordained and orchestrated legacy instead. I wonder if she knew then, what she knows now, if she would have chosen the latter anyway despite the lifetime of unfulfilled desires? If she would have adjusted her desires and gratefully accepted the story God wrote for her?

Don't strive for or even settle for the lie that is the fairy tale. First, because it's a lie--you'll never attain it anyway. But second, don't you think a life that leaves a lasting, beneficial legacy, by the grace of God, for generations to come is such a better story in every way? Can we not learn from Leah's life? What if every desire that ached in the pit of my stomach or longing in my soul was held with open, surrendered hands to the will of my life's Author? No expectations. His will be done.

I wonder. I wonder if, no matter the circumstances, if we'd experience true JOY in this lifetime, enjoying the story being written for us because by faith we were trusting God with all the heartaches and triumphs, unfulfilled desires and abundant blessings. If we gave up on the fairy tale and accepted whatever plot twists may come as part of our legacy, our story? I wonder...

In what ways are you knowingly or unknowingly chasing the lie that is the fairy tale ending? What is that thing you hope to attain or accomplish that would be your pot of gold at the end of the rainbow? Matthew 6:21 says, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." I dare say you can flip that statement and, "Where your heart is, there your treasure lies," is also true. This is my contentment and goals litmus test. If I'm yearning or aiming for something other than Jesus and His ways and His path and His will, I usually end up chasing the fairy tale and land smack dab in the middle of utter disappointment because the fairy tale ending is a lie.

And I'm done believing lies. I'm just over it. My relationship with Jesus Christ never fails me. I fail Him. Every. Day. But He never once has failed me.

One day, whether it be my lifetime here on earth or in another by my Savior's side, my Knight in shining armor will come back to this earth on His white horse and shine light on all the lies that Satan has used to darken this world. Then, all those that believe in the Lord Jesus Christ will get the fairy tale ending everyone else wanted for all time, but I'm pretty sure happily ever after with Jesus is going to be WAY more exciting than any fairy tale a mere mortal has ever penned ;)

In the meantime, this daughter of the king is going to wage war against the lies of the devil, calling them out and bringing them into the Light of Truth, and trust that Jesus is penning my legacy leaving story in the process. He'll write something better than I can ever imagine.



post signature

No comments: