When I was a child I enjoyed stories of make-believe princes and princesses, commonly called fairy tales. Sadly, these stories typically do not include God in the story line or credit Him with any of the supernatural events that they describe. However, they do show us something about human nature in the final line of every story: “and they lived happily ever after.” Each of us is longing for a happily ever after life, and God put that desire in us.

Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. Ezekiel 37:26 (KJV)

God always intended for us to have a happily ever after life- from the very beginning. His intention has always been to be among us and with us, giving us a life of joy, peace, and happiness for all eternity. And throughout the history of man, we have always longed for and pursued a life of continued happiness- many times in vain. Mankind does not always recognize what they are really longing for, which is intimate unity with the Creator, but throughout time they have looked for ways to be happy. That is why people try to find happiness in the wrong places- in other people, in money, in prestige, in sex, in alcohol, in food, in extreme sports and other adrenaline-pumping activities. Man is seeking God but doesn’t want to admit it. God Himself is our Happily-Ever-After.

For you know the saying, “We live in God; we move in God; we exist in God.” And still another said, “We are indeed God’s children.” Acts 17:28 (The Voice, VOICE)

You know, when we tell those stories about the prince and princess living “happily ever after,” we leave out the real-life stuff, like paying bills, cleaning house, mowing the lawn, aging, and so many other less-than-perfect facts of married life. We don’t talk about the times when Cinderella nagged Prince Charming about coming home late or that fact that Sleeping Beauty gained weight after she had babies. Life is imperfect, and we cannot rely on human relationships to make us live happily ever after. Only God can give us happily ever after.

Yes, as children of God we can look forward to eternal life with Jesus and happiness with Him forever. But we don’t have to wait until we die to experience some of that happily ever after life. As we include Him in our daily lives, we can have happily ever after while we live in this imperfect world. We can pay bills, go to work, make dinner, and raise children with our Prince of Peace, Jesus. The more we include Him and focus our lives on Him, the more of the happily ever after life we experience in the present- here and now.