Once upon a time . . . Last night I fell asleep watching episodes of Once Upon a Time. I am hooked (all pun intended) and am well into the third season. I have loved fairytales, fables, and Greek Mythology since I was very young. Taking the characters from many of our beloved stories and giving them real world experiences fascinates me. “Does happily ever after really happen?”, seems to be the question asked by the writers. For Emma, the lead character life has been very, very hard. It doesn’t matter that her parents are fairytale characters.

Jesus declares that I have come that you may have life, and have it to the fullest. Seems like a happily every after statement, but remember that he speaks of thief who comes to destroy that abundance in the very same verse. (John 10:10) We have an evil enemy who doesn’t want us to have our happily ever after. He is going to make our life difficult and try to destroy us. So how do we keep going no matter what our enemy tries to do to us?

Snow White declares that one of our strongest weapons is hope. She says that the moment she gives into despair she gives up her happily ever after. Therefore she presses forward with the firm belief that their happily ever after will happen. When others would throw in the towel, Snow trusts that good will always defeat evil.

I declare with every fiber of my being that there is a happy ending to my story. The impossible is a chance for my heavenly father to part the sea. Since God has power over even death nothing is impossible for him in writing our story. He will turn my desert into a lush garden of his glory. The story of my life is fraught with battles and I am weary in fighting. But I know that the victory is mine in Jesus Christ, and I refuse to give up hope. That is enough for me to keep believing in my happy ending.