What Do You Do With The Not-So-Happy Endings?

Sometimes things don't turn out the way you want them too. We hear that all the time, don't we? Except there are times when it rings especially true. I would say I've been really feeling this a lot lately. It's everything turning out wrong; it's every hope becoming mangled; it's your dreams being kicked in the gut by reality. Wow, that hurts. And the bruises and aches that it leaves. Honey, this is not honey. This is just really gross, and it's a feeling that we all want to avoid at every cost.

But is hating this feeling really all it's cracked up to be?

Maybe we're looking at it all wrong. I don't mean to say having things take a huge turn for the worst is the bee's knees. I'm not completely sane, but I'm also not completely insane. But let's really look at the times when we feel slapped in the face by things that have happened. Are they pitiable accounts of misery or well-disguised opportunities to bring a bit more light to the world? I'll give you a hint. I'd go for the latter.

Here's an example that I think is pretty awesome. Way back when this thing we call Earth and all that good stuff was made, these two people made a choice that they thought would make their lives all the dandier. They decided to try to know it all, because what could possibly go wrong? But we all know the story, don't we? They tried and were consequently banished from Eden, hurting their relationship with the Creator of the Universe. There were just a lot of other really nasty things that also came from their sin. This wasn't exactly what Adam and Eve wanted to happen. They reached for the stars and got a handful of cow muck. Isn't that lovely?

I bet God wouldn't have thought His creation messing up perfection was lovely either.  I wouldn't say God wanted Adam and Eve to ruin things.

However, God didn't let this get in the way of how much He loved them or any of the others who were and are born into sin. He took this situation and used it to bring light into the world. More specifically, He brought the Light of the World in. He gave us Jesus and showed us that "greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends" (John 15:13). God used sin entering the world as a chance to show us His True Love and give up His Son for us.  All we have to do is believe, and all of our sins are forgiven.  God didn't let the not-so-happy ending of human goodness even be the real ending.

Now that's what we ought to do with the not-so-happy endings of our lives.