by Dechari Cole
See Chart
I point out these truths because they can easily get lost. We forget that God has given everything to pursue a relationship with us and only wants the best for us. We forget that Satan is out to tempt us and destroy us. We forget to be patient and wait for what is better. Satan’s path always leads to pain and destruction, but God’s path always leads to hope and salvation.
Did my search for love end like I thought it would? Well, no. I ended up on the less-traveled path. I didn’t find love like in the movies—I found something so much better! I will never again doubt that God’s way is best. God has proven that He wants better for me than I even want for myself. My choice to obey Him and His Word set me on the path to finding my fairy tale ending. And that path awaits you too.
What I Learned
God will guide you along the less-traveled path. It will be harder, but it’s the hidden trails that always lead to the best treasures.
Make Your ways known to me, Lord; teach me Your paths. Guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; I wait for You all day long. (Psalm 25:4–5)
Girl Talk
1. What are you waiting on to fulfill you? Has it consumed your life and become an idol you need to get rid of?
2. You may be saying, “Are we there yet?” But nothing makes you grow more on your journey than waiting. What character traits grow out of learning to wait well? After you list some, read Isaiah 40:31.
3. Like Asaph, maybe your life seems to “stink” right now, while everyone around you appears to be living it up. How can you avoid grabbing at temptation while you’re waiting?
4. What if the thing you’re pitching a fit over isn’t what you really need right now? Could it be that God is protecting you and saving you for something better? What does the Bible say in Matthew 6:26–34?
5. Are you willing to let God guide you on your journey (not the media, not your peers) to an all-new adventure of living for Him?
Chapter 28
Your Fairy Tale Ending
Don’t you know that you are the princess?
So you may be asking yourself, what do fairy tales, princesses, princes, frogs, castles, and happily ever after have to do with God? Well, I know a girl’s heart, and I know what we girls dream of. We dream of being the princess who is loved and adored. We dream of one day finding the prince, who will love us, protect us, and guard our hearts. Someone who will fight for us and go to the ends of the earth to rescue us (maybe even while riding a white horse). Someone who will lay down his life for us. And with him, your life will be made complete. With him, you’ll experience true love, and there is no greater thing. That’s what we dream about, isn’t it? That’s what we long for—we’re just not sure that the fairy tale really exists. Oh, but it does . . . and you’re already part of it!
Like Cinderella, maybe you’ve had a glimpse of the fairy tale. Maybe you once had hopes of a happily ever after, but then the clock struck midnight and it’s back to reality. And just as a young girl named Ella once lost her identity in the cinders and ashes of her world, you too may not know who you really are anymore. Yet, Cinderella left behind a shoe, a trace of her true identity—and that’s where the pursuit began. Just as Cinderella’s prince searched for her so that he could bring her back to him, your Prince searches for you—His princess. Or do you still not see your true identity? Perhaps somewhere along the way you’ve forgotten it. Or perhaps the world has told you that your mistakes make you unworthy of being a princess. But the search for you has already begun. Jesus, the Prince of Peace, is pursuing you because He wants to bring you back to Him.
You see, Jesus loved you before you ever even knew Him. He accepts you for all that you are, and He wants to be with you always. He wants to protect you and guard your heart. He is ready to fight for you and rescue you. He’s already laid down His life to save you. He is searching for you. And in Him, you will find true love and, yes, there is no greater thing. Jesus is the Prince you’ve been searching for.
When we accept Jesus’ love, we find our true identity and the key to our fairy tale ending.
That’s the real fairy tale ending! I am a princess. You are a princess. That’s our true identity. Our identity cannot be found in this world. The world will call us names, treat us cruelly, and try to make us feel anything but special. But through it all, don’t forget this one truth: your heavenly Father is King and His Son, the Prince, is coming to take you as His bride one day. And, oh yeah—there’s even a white horse (Revelation 6:1–2)! Wow, the fairy tale is true! And to think, you are the princess in this beautiful love story.
I did find my fairy tale ending and my happily ever after. I know, some people say it’s impossible, but I say they’ve just been looking in all the wrong places. So, you might ask, Is Jason perfect? Is your life perfect? No, of course not. Well then, you say, you haven’t really found your happily ever after. Oh, but Jason isn’t my fairy tale ending—he’s the result of it. To me, “happily ever after” isn’t about finding happiness in something or someone; it’s about finding a never-ending love that will never fail when we fall in love with Jesus. When we accept Jesus’ love, we find our true identity and the key to our fairy tale ending, our happily ever after. In Jesus, we are made complete and right with God. In God, we find our way. We find the path that fulfills us like nothing else in this world can. Being in God’s will—well, it’s the “perfect fit” we’ve been searching for.
There’s nothing like following God. It doesn’t really matter whether God’s will is for you to be rich or poor, to live in the United States or a third world country, to be single or married. It’s just being in His will—wherever that may take you—that brings your life unexplainable joy. Some people think that “happily ever after” is a life without hardships or trials, but that’s not the case. It’s a difficult road to travel, but it’s not one you travel alone. God will never leave you and His love will never fail. He will use your life for a bigger purpose. Whatever comes, you can take comfort in knowing that the ending will be amazing when you accept Jesus’ love.
Maybe you’re like me, and you’ve searched for love in different people, different ways, and different things, and you keep coming up empty. But all this time that you’ve been searching for true love, true love has been pursuing you. Jesus desires for you to be His bride, beautiful and dressed in white because He has cleansed you from your sins (Revelation 19:7–8). He is coming back to take you home to Heaven one day. The Bible describes that day as the wedding day—and what a day that will be!
Until that wedding day comes, I consider this time of waiting my “dating time” with Jesus—the time to spend getting to know Him more deeply, and to work on becoming more of the princess and bride I am meant to be. Honestly, I still have a lot to learn. I’m still learning how to better be a reflection of Him and His love, and I’m constantly learning to trust Him with my life. So I’m thankful for this time and this amazing journey I’m on—the journey that’s led me to my fairy tale ending.
Well, my engagement time with Jason was coming to an end. One beautiful ring, along with its promise, wrapped my finger. Another ring would soon be placed next to it, finishing the covenant. A never-ending circle, representing a never-ending love. God was right: we could truly love each other because He had first loved us (1 John 4:19). Our wedding day would be a reflection of what He had done for us. On that day, people would see a glimpse of Christ and His love for His bride.
As the bridal music started to play, I took one last deep breath, trying to take in all the excitement and anticipation. I could only hear the sound of my heart beating faster as a silence fell over the room. The doors swung open, and I stepped into the doorway. Everyone rose to their feet. My eyes quickly searched down the aisle to find the man I loved. When I spotted him, I smiled and started walking, my gaze fixed upon him. This was the day—the one God had planned for me all along. This was the day I g
ot to marry my prince charming!
What I Learned
The fairy tale—the happily ever after—it all begins and ends with God.
“For I know the plans I have for you”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“plans for your welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. You will call to Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:11–13)
Girl Talk
1. Did you know that your longing for a fairy tale ending can come true (Psalm 37:4)? Maybe you’ve been looking for it in a guy here on earth, but do you now see how Jesus fulfills every single thing we desire our Prince to be?
2. Everyone is desperately searching to be loved, because there is no greater thing. So how does it feel to know that while you’ve been longing for it, Perfect Love has been pursuing you?
3. Your true identity is found in Jesus, not in your past and not in what other people say you should be. Have you lost your identity? How can you live out your true identity as a princess of the King?
4. You were created to impact God’s kingdom. Jesus told His disciples to tell other people the good news about Him. What is that good news? Are you sharing it?
5. So, you’re a bride of Christ. How does that change your view of your relationship—your “dating time” here on earth—with Jesus?
If you were reading a typical fairy tale story, this page would read “The End.” But Jason wasn’t the end of my fairy tale; he was the beginning. My wonderful journey of learning what God has planned for me is bigger than anything I ever imagined. I know there is more to come. God holds my heart, and I will follow Him anywhere. And I hope you will too.
And they lived happily ever seeking after God.
Are You Ready for Your Fairy Tale Ending?
If you feel a desire deep in your heart to really know God for the first time and follow Him . . .
If you believe that you are a sinner (like all of us) in need of a Savior . . .
If you believe Jesus died on the cross so that your sins could be forgiven . . .
. . . then you can call on God.
Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). Jesus is the only way to salvation. Read Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, Romans 5:8, Romans 10:13, and Romans 10:9–10 for yourself.
I can tell you all about God whom I love, but He has to reveal Himself to you (Revelation 3:20). If He has, then pray and tell Him you know you have sinned. Tell Him you believe Jesus died on the cross to pay for those sins and was raised from the dead. Then ask God to forgive you of your sins. Let Him know you’re ready to accept His love and live for Him. When you do this, He will give you the Holy Spirit (which is God living in you) to guide you and encourage you. Once you’ve made this commitment to Jesus, share it—with your family, friends, and church! Celebrate it with baptism (Matthew 28:18–20). And we at Girls Living 4 God want to encourage you and walk with you too. Please contact us at www.GirlsLiving4God.com. We are so excited you have found the greatest love there is!
Satan wants to . . .
God wants to . . .
steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10)
give us abundant life (John 10:10)
trick us with lies (John 8:44)
guide us with truth (John 14:6)
destroy us (1 Peter 5:8)
make us new (2 Corinthians 5:17–19)
tempt us with things of this world (Matthew 4:1–11)
give us a way out of temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13)
accuse us of our sins daily (Revelation 12:9–10)
give us grace and forgiveness daily (Lamentations 3:22–23)
put us in bondage (Luke 13:16)
set us free (Ephesians 2:1–5)
cause harm (Luke 9:42)
heal us and carry our burdens (Mark 1:34)
bring fear and doubt (Ephesians 6:12)
give power and love (2 Timothy 1:7)
offer us riches that don’t last (Matthew 6:19)
offer us riches for eternity (Matthew 6:20)
take us to hell with him (Matthew 13:37–42)
prepare a place for us in heaven (John 14:2–3)
lead us on an easy path to destruction (Matthew 7:13)
lead us on the more narrow path to life (Matthew 7:13)