Happily Ever After

Maybe one of the less noble reasons my husband was first attracted to me was my love for adventure stories.  I’m a sucker for X-men, Batman, Superman, Spider-man, you name it.  More than those, I love the much deeper, Chronicles of Narnia, Lord of the Rings, Pilgrims Progress, Hinds Feet on High Places.

Now this little indulgence could seem like an escape from the everyday, mundane life of a mother at home, OR it could serve as a prompt to view the grace of God in giving me my own little adventures everyday.  I started this line of thinking in the midst of our most recent escapade.

Figuring out cash-flow can be a pretty sharp growing pain for the new business owner. I was in the pantry trying to make meals from the canned goods that have probably moved with us twice and noticed that I was getting a bit of a high off my own creativity (we’ll address the pride issue another time).  Anyway, I realized that this little budget crisis that we were having could be cause for moping and fretting (of which there has regretfully been some), or I could see myself in the middle of a fantastic adventure, take up my dagger and cordial, and keep fighting behind Aslan.

And just like the stories I love, I know that though fraught with danger, the ending is going to be a happy one.  God’s providence is always for my good and His glory, but that doesn’t mean that the conflict is not real, that tears and blood are just stage make-up.  Real adventure hurts, and it’s thrilling, and it’s going somewhere glorious.  I don’t need to escape monotony by searching out all manner of pleasure hording excursions- be it chocolate or a hike up Mt. Everest.  The Lord is providing me with plenty of intrigue, I only need to embrace it.  Sometimes the Hero lets me help in the rescue mission, like making dinner for 8 under $5, but more often (and in the greatest sense, always) I get to play the damsel in distress, always rescued by the King himself.

We know that God wants us to count our trials as joy because as James says, “the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”  By our struggles, we are made more like Christ, we are disciplined as sons, we are being refined and made new.

Our God’s kindness is so deep.  His kindness is also vast.  God need not compromise his depth by his vastness.  In his vast kindness he even helps us in our boredom.  I am looking forward to the next test, the next conflict, be it man vs. loose change in between the piano keys or man vs. fighting sisters.  The end of the story is written, and for the people for whom Christ died, it is happily ever after.