Happily Ever After

If you've read many fairy tales, you know that the ending is always, "and they lived happily ever after." The structure of all fairy tales is basically the same. The main character suffers at the hands of his/her enemy and is rescued by the hero of the story. Once rescued, the main character and the hero live a life that is much better than before the suffering happened, and in the end we read that, "they lived happily ever after."

All of us dream of living a "happily ever after" life, which usually means no stressors or problems and enough wealth to enjoy the "finer" things in life. We believe that the "happily ever after life" should never entail long-term suffering, especially if the main character did not do anything to deserve it.

The ending of the book of Job tells us that once the Lord had confronted Job with his sin, and he repented, He then gave back to Job twice the amount of what he had previously lost. Now that's a "happily ever after life," or is it? Humans have the propensity to want to live a problem-free, pain-free life. As a result, many who believe in God also believe that once they have confessed their sin and received salvation, they should also receive a "happily ever after" life (as they define it) as if God owes them this kind of life.

Job's three friends had not spoken orthodox doctrine. They said things about God that weren’t true. They said that God always punishes evil and always rewards good in this life and pretty much immediately. And God says here, “that’s just not right!” It is true that the Lord restored Jobs' losses but that is not what a "happily ever after life" consists of.

Not all suffering is brought on by the sin of the one who is suffering. It is also true that being enriched with material wealth is not a sign of God's blessing. It’s been said that "not all suffering is punishment. When God brings suffering into our lives, that doesn’t necessarily mean that he’s angry with us. It doesn’t mean that he is exacting punishment on us. What Job and his friends needed to learn is what we need to learn. That when God’s ways don’t make sense to us, we need to trust his wisdom."¹

The "happily ever after" life does not consist of things or circumstances. The life lived "happily ever after" is firmly rooted and grounded in trusting God's goodness and love despite the circumstances you find yourself in. The Lord's thoughts and ways are much higher and beyond understanding then our own (Isa. 55: 8, 9). In our Lord' final earthly prayer on behalf of His followers He says that true life, abundant life, consists solely of knowing God ( Jer. 9: 23, 24; John 17: 3).

As my former seminary professor, Dr. Jeff Bingham, was fond of saying, "The things you think about when you think about God are the most important things you will ever think about."
Do you really want to live a "happily ever after" life? The Westminster catechism asks the question, “What is the chief end of man?" The answer is that "the chief end of man is to worship God and enjoy Him forever"? That's it. The key to living a "happily ever after life" is to know God as the Scriptures reveal Him and trust He will provide you the "happily ever after" life you have always desired even if it means that you suffer in this present time (1 Peter 1: 3- 9).

¹ Explaingthebook.com