God is not Your Fairy Godmother

“Sometimes God allows your house to burn down so you can better see the trees.”

Jonathan Merritt

She would never have allowed it. She was all light and glitter and sparkles and pizazz! Magic and wonder flowed freely from her wand as she glided a few feet off the ground. Her tiny feet would never touch our dusty, gritty dirt. Her smile was contagious and she giggled joyfully at the secret-heart-desires she would bestow on a poor beleaguered soul.

And when she zoned in on the plight of a poor mistreated servant girl, it was all pumpkins and mice and opulent coaches and white steeds, and a Prince, oh my!

Then there’s that dratted “ burning house” reality.

I didn’t want to think about it. I didn’t want to acknowledge the possibility.

I flat out didn’t like the idea.

But the truth of it starkly resounded in my soul,

The darkness of a world spiraling out of control,

The poverty and desolation of millions, starving, crying out, no relief in sight.

The days upon days upon years of unanswered prayers. Or maybe they are answered, but I just don’t like the answer of  “no,” “or wait.”

But if I only experience immediate blessings after blessings, how can I judge the truth of such gifts? If I never have valleys, and struggles and tear drenched pillows, how can I truly feel the glory and joy and peace of God’s favor in a beautiful blessing, a prayer answered much more immensely than the tiny boxed request my mind could fathom.

So I can choose to focus dismally on the big prayers that sometimes seem to fall on deaf ears, or on the millions of other prayers that flow answered into my soul like a continual stream of honey from his lips.

God is not my Fairy Godmother,

He is much bigger and more wondrous and more powerful and almighty than any stretch of the imagination a storyteller could pen.

And yes I still yearn in my little girl’s heart for that fairytale ending on earth,

That the story of my life is full of rose petal love and health and happiness. And everyone I care for is healthy and happy with perfect jobs and perfect marriages and perfect children.

But in truth, he did what we needed if not what we thought we wanted. He sent his beloved son to walk in our dirt and suffer in solidarity and die a brutal death so he could give us an ending more beautiful than any fairy tale.

“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain…” Revelation 21:3

And that’s the promise that keeps me slogging through this old world with a determination to be joyful. Some days and weeks and years are a real struggle,

So I have to daily remind myself to walk through this life with eyes open to the wonder and refuse to let the shutters of woe blind me to his hand of grace.