No Happy Ending?
Daniel 3:17-18 (NIV)
17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
As children we grow up listening to stories and watching movies that contain happy endings. Evil is defeated and the good are rewarded. I have a friend that always has to read the end of a book before she will decide to read the whole thing. If it is a sad ending she will not read it. Happy endings are not guaranteed on this side of heaven. It is especially hard when a young life is cut short. Devastating when it is your child. What do we do when we don’t get the ending we hoped for?
4.5.19
I know that we learn and grow through suffering. Yet the loss and pain we feel will mark the remainder of our days. There is no making it right this side of Heaven. There is no healing. There is no happy ending.
Those were the words I wrote a few months after my son’s accident. As I looked ahead I struggled with the dark days I could imagine ahead. It was as if I saw the end of the story and I struggled with if I wanted to read the book. If the remaining pages of my life would be filled with darkness and pain, how could I find hope?
God is the author of our lives. Just as an author has the power to create the story he chooses, God has the power to create the storyline of our lives. Our faith is put to the test when the story of our lives take an unexpected shift. How do we react when the circumstances of our lives have taken an unimaginable turn?
In the book of Daniel, we find the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. They are being thrown into the fiery furnace and they know that God is able to deliver them. They are given the option by the king to walk through the pain or turn from God. Yet they chose to follow Him even if He did not save them. They know God has the power to decide if their story continues or ends. Circumstances should never define your faith. Faith should always define how you react to circumstances.
The faith of three men facing the fiery furnace is inspiring for those of us facing our own trials by fire. Even if God did not save them from the fire, they were able to see beyond the fire. God has the power to bring healing to our lives. When the three men were placed in the fiery furnace a fourth figure was present with them in the fire. We are also not alone in our trials. Faith is fixing our eyes on God instead of the trials we face.
Hebrews 12:2 (NASB) fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
I cannot imagine a happy ending this side of Heaven. All I see is the fire before me. Yet I know God will not leave me alone in the fire. He will be with us through our trials. So I will choose to fix my eyes on Jesus. The last day of my life on this earth will not be the last page of my story. For my friend that likes to read the end of the book, the Bible tells us about the joy that comes in the end. When we get to that end, we will be able to look back and know how good it was to trust in the author and perfecter of our faith.
