Looking for a happy ending

I enjoy reading fiction books. And I’m not ashamed to say that I like reading the predictable ones. The ones with happy endings. I’ve always been drawn more to comedy than tragedy. I mean, real life is already full of unwanted tragedy. Why would I want to read more of it in my leisure time? Give me the happily ever after any day – even if it seems a little far-fetched. Escaping the hardness of reality is a way for me to remember that there is still good to be experienced in the world. Even if it’s in a book.

But even in the predictable stories, the characters do not necessarily have smooth-sailing in life. Actually, any book that depicts a perfectly blissful experience is so far from reality that it is flat and uninteresting. And I don’t think happy endings would be all that happy if they aren’t seen in light of the struggle that came before them – the sadness that could have been. I’ve read a variety of fiction books and have noticed that whether the setting is in the 1700s or modern day, the root struggles experienced by the characters is the same. There are foes to fight, desires to drive toward, hurts to heal. As readers, we understand similar struggles, and we identify with them. But there is something peaceful about knowing that when all is said and done, everything will be ok. It’s all going to end well somehow.

This is how we should feel as we read the Bible. Except the Bible isn’t just some fiction book. It is true. And it is true not just for the characters we read about in its pages; its timeless theology touches every creature, past, present and future. Including you and me. We read of creation, the patriarchs, Moses and the exodus, the entrance into the Promised Land, establishment of a kingdom – and eventually the fall of that kingdom. Some characters failed, others were faithful. All of them fluctuated between the two. We read poems and proverbs, songs, and reflections, and many prophecies calling a wicked human race to repentance. The plot culminates in Jesus Christ, the Church, instructions to the Church, exhortations to persevere in difficulty…and hope for the restoration of all things one magnificent day in the future. We learn of how humans fell from grace, and how God has worked to redeem and to save us. We read of how He is with us today, calling each of us into relationship with Christ (the only relationship that can save us from the sin that holds us all in bondage) and how He will fulfill His plans for final judgment and salvation. We learn the importance of humility, of trust, and of thankfulness before God who is transcendent, sovereign, eternal, and who has written the story, from beginning to end. And all He has said will come to pass.

In some sense, it’s also one of those choose your own adventure books. Remember those? You would be given a choice of which way to go in the story, and your choices would ultimately effect how the story would end. God has already written the book, but He gives us an option to have either a happy ending or a tragic one. We can choose to rebel against His compassion and grace, or we can choose to accept it.

We find ourselves as characters in the story, tossed around by circumstances – some beyond our control, but some also the result of our choices. But if we have accepted the grace of God and have chosen to follow Christ, we know that all of the ups and downs we face in this plot will ultimately lead to a beautiful, happy ending.

“…we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. Fr our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).

The Book of Psalms depicts just about every struggle a person or nation can have, along with just about every response a person can have to those struggles. We can read psalms of praise in one breath, and psalms of lament in the next. Moments of worship, and moments of worry. Just like we can identify with the struggling characters of a good novel, we can identify with the psalmists who are facing very real life situations that can quickly change from mountaintop to valley experiences.

Some psalms have been labeled psalms of “confidence”. In these, we can sense the fortitude necessary to trust God when things are going wrong:

“ Hear my voice when I call, O LORD; be merciful to me and answer me. My heart says of you, ‘Seek his face!’ Your face, LORD, I will seek…Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me. Teach me your way, O LORD; lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors. Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, breathing out violence.” (Psalm 27:7-12).

We learn to keep our eyes on the Strength to keep pressing on:

“The LORD is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid? When evil men advance against me to devour my flesh, when my enemies and my foes attack me, they will stumble and fall. Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then will I be confident.” (Psalm 27:1-3).

We learn where we can go to find safety and victory:

“One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple. For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock. Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the LORD.” (Psalm 27:4-6).

And we learn that even in the face of advancing enemies, we can still trust in God’s happy ending:

I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.” (Psalm 27:13-14).

***** If you share my love for fiction and happy endings, please check out my fiction books, “The Refiner” and “Close to the Heart” at the Extra Second Inc. store.