Since I was a little girl I loved to read. I used to take books up in to the tree in my front yard or find a comfy chair and sit for hours reading anything I could get my hands on. I loved adventure stories like the Chronicles of Narnia, epic love stories like the Anne of Green Gables, and other series like the Boxcar Children and the Babysitters’ Club. My someday dream is to have a library filled with wall to wall books, complete with a window seat where I could curl up with hot cocoa and get lost in a different world. The stories found in books are a way to transport us to a different place and look at the world through someone else’s eyes, learning from their experiences in a fun and entertaining way.
I share my love of books with you to help explain why I look for God in the stories that happen in real life. Whenever Jesus taught he used parables or stories to illustrate what he was teaching. Only those who were willing to truly listen were able to glean the message Christ was teaching. God speaks to us the same way today. The message of his hope and love are found in books, movies, and the stories we share with friends over coffee.
I recently watched a cheesy Lifetime Christmas movie as a way to get in the Christmas mood while cleaning my room. The story was about a girl who left her fiance at the alter 12 years earlier to pursue a career in New York City. She was now a lonely corporate success spending Christmas alone in her penthouse, wishing on a Christmas star that she could go back and make things right. I won't ruin the movie for you by giving everything away, but I could see God's message of love and redemption woven throughout the tale and I want to share with you some of what I saw.
The main character ran away from her love in pursuit of something she thought would make her happy. So often we do the same thing when it comes to God. His love is constant and unconditional, but we see it as restricting or difficult to understand, so we chase after something that we think is better. And at first, it may be. But the more we chase after things that aren't God, the more empty we feel. God's love is the only thing that truly sets us free and fulfills the longing in our hearts.
Our heroine was given a second chance at what she lost by a Christmas angel, allowing her to go back in time to the week before she left her fiance at the altar. I've personally never gone back in time or been able to take back the mistakes I've made in my life. But what I felt God telling me through this storyline, was that he gives us second chances. In real life, we can never go back to change our decisions or the consequences of our actions, but because Christ died for us, we are redeemed from our sin. His grace covers over our mistakes, giving us a second chance to make the right decision the next time we are faced with a similar circumstance. He also gives us the strength to make things right with those we've hurt by our poor choices. He gives us the courage we need to face our sin and the consequences of it so that we can live a life that is free and redeemed.
As with every romantic comedy known to man, there is of course a happy ending. I believe there is an innate desire within us that everything work out right in the end. We want this in our books and movies as well as in our real lives. However, we live in a fallen world and its been my experience that one imperfect person plus another imperfect person does not equal a perfect relationship whether it be romantic, platonic, or family. We all make mistakes that affect the people around us and threaten our happily ever after. But here's the good news. We already have a happily ever after. When Christ died for our sins on the cross, he wrote the ending so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but will have everlasting life (according to John 3:16). And 2 Corinthians 4:17,18 says: "For 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." If we step back and look through an eternal perspective, we have our happy ending through Christ, everything else is just part of the story line, filled with trials and conflict and heartache and pain that leads up to that happy ending.
As Christmas approaches, I would encourage you to look around at the everyday occurrences through an eternal perspective. We already know the end, but what can we learn along the journey? How can we share our journey with others so that they too may know the love and hope in Jesus Christ? What is God trying to say through the stories of everyday life? Are you listening?
I hope you have a wonderful day!
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