Life Mirrors Fairy Tales

The other day I realized how much life resembles fairy tales. No, not the magic pumpkins, dwarves, or fairy godmothers, but the fact when you strip all the magic away, there is a story that is eerily similar to life. Bear with me here. Take Cinderella, for example, what we remember is she had an evil stepmother and two stepsisters. With the help of her fairy godmother and magical mice, she found her prince, married him, and lived happily ever after. End of story, right? Wrong. 

When you dive deep into the story, I found this. She had a wonderful early childhood that was marked with pain because of her mother’s passing. Then her father married another woman who had two daughters. The stepmother hated what Cinderella represented and treated her like a servant. The stepmother and her stepsisters ridiculed and belittled Cinderella. She was nothing according to them. Therefore, Cinderella lost not only her mother, but her father because he was away so much, and was left with three people who despised her. Then, yes, with a bit of magic she had an amazing night which gave her a taste of something good, but it was ripped away from her again. Finally, after all this, her prince comes and they live happily ever after… supposedly. We never see that part of the story though. 

When most people think of fairy tales they think of the happily ever afters. They don’t see the pain and hardships for the years previous. 

Believe it or not, life is like that many times. Before an easier time in life, we must endure pain and hardship, possibly for years. Granted, we don’t have talking mice, glass slippers, or fairy godmothers in our journey, but we have something worth so much more — our Heavenly Father. 

Cinderella had to wait without comfort for years. God is always here, knowing our pain and always comforting us. And true, there are no magic wands in life and God doesn’t always take away our troubles and pain. Instead, God uses our toughest times to help us grow in Him. Everything happens for a reason. Sometimes we don’t understand it, like how I feel right now in my life, but I know there is a greater purpose. I know I’ve learned a lot already and I know there’s much more. 

Take heart! Your life can be a fairy tale. Sometimes years of toils and troubles can produce times of peace. Even if you’ve had all troubles and trials, never quit! As Christians we do have a happily ever after when God calls us home to be with Him!

Keeping the perspective,
Lauren