Why is it that in movies and books we want to see the “happily ever after” and when it doesn’t happen we are disappointed? Or when it does happen, we still feel disappointed because it is over and we wanted to see more. We want things to finish up “happily ever after” but are disappointed that the end has come. It is a case of “the grass is always greener.”
I am reading Revelation (the final book of the Bible) and it is a difficult read, yet it talks of heaven and how it is all going to end well. The visions that John describes in Revelation probably don’t even come to close to what it will actually be like. One one hand I trust that if God says that He will live among us, that it will be perfect like the Garden of Eden, with no suffering, pain or sadness.....then it will be so. But on the other hand because I can’t imagine living like that for eternity (which in itself being perpetually happy is so foreign to me), there is a part of me that wonders and doubts at times that it is it even possible. I want the happy ending but then even when it has been promised to me I am already feeling a little disappointed.
Am I the only one who gets conflicted in this way?
I don’t think so because... There are many people who simply cannot believe in a “happy ever after” because they cannot fathom it. They would rather believe that we simply eat, live, have fun and die and that’s the end.
I don’t think so because... Look at the number of movies that keep pushing our ideas of the end times and what happens when the earth is destroyed. i.e A band of warriors inevitably rise up to start again and make things better.
I don’t think so because.... How many people spend their life trying to find answers in science, nature, spiritualism? They are seeking to work out the answers themselves, thinking they must be able to do a better job than anyone has done in the past.
It is interesting that the book of Revelation was written in a time when the Roman Empire had claimed itself as the divinely intended ruler over the earth, with Caesar Augustus’ rule proclaiming in both political and religious terms:
“it has been ordained that the most perfect consummation for human life is by giving it to Augustus, by filling him with virtue for doing the work of a benefactor among men and by sending him, as it were, a saviour for us and those who come after us, to make war to cease and to create order everywhere.” (The Books of the Bible, New Testament, Biblica Inc, 2011,pg 425)
Not much has changed and for us to be surprised by the changes in government and culture in Australia today as it heads towards changing the foundations of what is considered “true”, “ethical” and “moral”, is naive. We can be sad about it but not surprised. In the light of this John wrote to the Christians who acknowledged a different saviour to the world. John speaks about a God who’s plan has always been for a “happily ever after”. He encouraged the believers that God has the “happily ever after” all sorted out and to hang in there when times get tough and when the culture of the day brings pressure to compromise or walk away from His truth.
We all know that as a story draws to an end, the final challenge is often the hardest to endure even for those who do get their “happily ever after”. We applaud this in movies like the "Hobbit" and "Hunger Games". In God’s Big story it is even better because the happy ending will not be because of anything we have done, but rather what Christ has done for us. It is a GIFT and yet so many still won’t accept it.
We love to watch the climax unfold on the big screen and squirm as it seems impossible that any good can come from the tragedies and situations and yet by the end of the movie all is well with the world. We love to read about those that overcome and those that we consider heroes and quickly forget that to walk a mile in their shoes during the time when all seemed lost, would be too much to bear for many of us. We want to hear all about the “happily ever after” and yet God has been revealing this “happily ever after” from the beginning of time. Why is it that so many would rather ridicule the concept of a “prefect heaven” and choose to make their own plans rather than to see the HOPE that has and always will be there for those willing to accept His love? Is it because we can’t imagine what a “happily ever after” really looks like? And if we can’t imagine it or see it then we find it challenging to believe! He is calling us to simply have faith and trust Him that the “happily ever after” is more than we can even imagine.
John had seen Jesus which is why revelation is so HOPEFUL for him. Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." (John 20: 29)
“Then Jesus spoke; I am coming soon! I am the first and the last, the beginning and the end. Anyone who wants to can come to me and they will be forgiven; and those who are forgiven will be happy. They will live in the city of God and enjoy life. Anyone who wants to can come and drink freely for the water of life. I am coming soon” (Bible.now, Anno Domini Publishing, 2013, pg 318)
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