By Miriam Rossow
Once Upon A Time …
I love stories that start out, “Once upon a time…” because they almost always end with “… happily ever after.” We all want those fairy tale stories; love at first sight, Prince Charming, a special first kiss, to be saved from the evil witch, and the happy ending.
These stories, although they end happily, always have something bad in the middle. The evil queen poisons the fair maiden or the wicked step sisters keep the sweet, innocent sibling from the ball. There is a curse put on the people of the kingdom that must be overcome by some ridiculous amount of good.
In all of these stories, even in the middle when evil looks as though it will win, we know that good will prevail. We know there will be a happily ever after. We can see to the end even though it has not happened and it looks as though all else will fail. There is always one character we know will prevail with good and beat evil.
I once heard that it is good to have these stories and teach them to our children for the purpose of understanding the gospel. These stories give us a framework for good vs. evil or Prince Charming riding in on his horse to save us at the last moment. They help us imagine and visualize what God has done and will do for us.
As I watched the TV show Once Upon a Time I realized that we all want a happy ending! Even the evil queen’s purpose in this show is to have a happy ending, although she is going about it all wrong!
We all dream of Prince Charming riding in on his white steed to rescue us from the evil queen. We look for it in our relationships with the opposite sex. We look for it in our relationship with our parents and friends. We look for it in our relationship with our God.
The wonderful news is that, although we often are disappointed in our earthly relationships and their ability to ride in and save us, our God does not disappoint. Although it can look as though evil will win, and feel as though evil will win, and at some points in the story evil is winning, we can look ahead and know that good will prevail.
Although it can look as though evil will win, and feel as though evil will win, and at some points in the story evil is winning, we can look ahead and know that good will prevail.
At the end of our story with our God we get a happy ending. We get to see Him face to face and dwell with Him in such a personal way that He will wipe every tear from our eyes.
We are blessed in our sufferings because we know the end of the story. We know that it has a happy ending and Someone, Jesus, has a ridiculous amount of good to overcome evil even when it looks and feels like evil will win.
What a joy to look forward to the Day that our Prince Charming will ride in on His white horse and sweep us off our feet and proclaim we are the one He has been searching for! We are the maiden who will be kissed by Prince Charming to wake up. We have the exact size foot to fit in the glass slipper. The spell on our town has been lifted and evil will not win! Evil will forever be destroyed and Good will prevail!
And we live … happily ever after!
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