And they lived happily ever after. Let’s face it. A little part of us all loves a story that ends well. We want the good guy to win. We want the underdog to come out on top. We ultimately want everyone to be happy, don’t we?

That is another reason why I love the holidays. Each year as I prepare my home for Christmas, I indulge myself in a number of the seemingly endless supply of sappy Christmas movies. You know, the ones where two people fall in love, are pulled apart by some event or misunderstanding, and then get back to gather and live happily ever after. 

I love how predictable it is that the main characters will end up together at the conclusion of the movie. I know, the storylines range from silly to ridiculous in most of these flicks, but I take great pleasure in knowing that no matter how ugly it gets or how far they apart they end up, they always get back together before the credits roll at the end. And if I’m being completely honest, I have to admit I inevitably will shed a tear at some point near the end because I love a happy ending.

But life doesn’t always go that way, does it? Sometimes when things unravel, they can never be woven back together again and there is no happily ever after. 

We all have this distorted view that to have a good life everything has to go according to our plan and everything has to be easy and conflict-free. But the reality is that life isn’t like that. We all have trials in our lives. Times when we make bad decisions, say things we don’t mean, or take actions that hurt someone we care about. And those are the things we can control!  

We also have to deal with challenges that are beyond our control. The fall out from natural disasters, sicknesses, and tragedies that are bigger than all of us. 

The events that disrupt our lives can be large or small, but regardless, we have to deal with the consequences of them. We can rarely know what these challenges will look like and we can almost never prepare ahead for them. And whether they are momentary blips in our day or events that completely derail our lives, we can only control how we respond to the event. But it is never going to be picture perfect all of the time. 

But it doesn’t have to be. We can choose to stay calm and live in the peace of knowing that God is in control and everything will be ok. And even if it’s not ok by the world’s standards, it is still better than ok. God is working good from every situation and all we need to do is relax and enjoy the journey. 

Having said that, it’s easy to forget that.  We have to work at being content and we sometimes have to work at looking at things from the biblical perspective. Even though I can find the positive in almost every situation and can live in a state of peace during the turmoils in life, I can get tripped up when things don’t work out the way I planned. I get discouraged and frustrated just like everyone else. Fortunately, I have a team of great people in my life that help me see what I can’t see on my own in those times and can almost always get back on track within a few hours. 

We are called to reflect the light of Christ into the dark corners of the world, but we’re human and we get turned around on occasion.  As Christians, we sometimes forget that we have a happily ever after guarantee. Yes, life will jump off the tracks and things will not go our way. We will have tragedy and pain and sadness.  We will have the trials that make us feel like we can’t survive them. 

And we may never know why they happen.  They can make us feel helpless and out of control.

But no matter how painful life can be or how badly we “screw up,” how discouraged we become, or how tragic our path is, there is always a happy ending when we live our lives for Christ. He is always right there for us when we stray, waiting with open arms for us to return to Him. 

It can be easy to lose heart and quit, face it, we have all faced problems in our lives that make us want to quit. That is when we must focus on the inner strength that comes from the Holy Spirit. He will help us overcome the pain, fatigue or criticism that we encounter and encourage us to renew our commitment to serving Christ. So please, do not let today’s troubles pull you off track for your guaranteed happily ever after. 

Realize that there is a purpose to our current suffering and see the positive in that we are being reminded of the suffering Christ did for us, being kept from pride, helping us look beyond this temporal life, getting the opportunity to prove our faith to others, and giving God the opportunity to show His mighty power.  

Remember that our ultimate hope is not to overcome our earthly struggles, it is the faith in knowing that we have life after death and will live forever with God in a place without sin and suffering.  Now that is a guarantee for a happy ending we can all get say yes to, isn’t it?

Today’s message was shorter than most, but that is by design. It’s a busy time of year, but it is a time we are to keep our focus on the true meaning of not only Christmas, but of life itself. 

If you are sure of your eternal life in heaven, share that confidence with someone who isn’t. If you aren’t so sure, find someone who is and ask them about the promise of eternity. Don’t know anyone or are sure how? I’d love to visit with you about that.  You can find me at vonajohnson.com.

Thank you for spending your precious time with me today. Now go, be blessed, and live your More!