By definition, a fairy tale is a tale that involves some fantasy characters that possess some power or ability. When thinking of these childhood stories, the connotation seems to be little girls, glitter, rainbows, and unicorns; sweet, perfect, and innocent. As a result, the bigger picture is often missed.

In the Christian life somehow, there is the theory that life is meant to be perfect and without struggle or hardship for those in the faith; that couldn’t be further from the truth. The idea of “happily ever after” is somehow associated with “no more trouble,” but when you remove the frills, fluff, and fairies from these stories, you see something much different, as I learned reading a devotion.

In all of these fantastical stories, there is struggle, there is death, there is disappointment, loneliness, uncertainty and doubt, jealousy, and fear. For these individuals (i.e. Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Belle, Snow White, Rapunzel, etc.) to become all they hoped or dreamed, they had to face dragons, unpleasant circumstances, and wicked people, most of the time people closest to them. They were mistreated and take advantage of, and belittled many times to nothing, with no value. So much in so that their friends many times were not other people, but animals and things found in nature. How different are we from them? All of us have face any one or a combination of these things on a day-to-day basis, some more intense than others. It’s like, there is no “happily ever after” without the “painful ever before.” Still, even after the characters got their miracle, there was always a sequel. The same applies to us.

In order to get to where God would have us walk in all He has for us, whatever far away land you are aiming for, whatever castle you are trying to reach, whatever prince or maiden you are praying for, whatever glory within you that has been suppressed over the years that you are trying to let shine, whatever chains or tower that has had you bound you are trying to escape from, or whoever that person is inside of you that you are attempting to discover, there will be dragons. Some that are more ferocious than others, and there will be a fight, there will be tears, and there will be blood, and that’s just before, because even after you slay one dragon or put it in its place, another enemy will arise to hinder you from going forth.

All in all, when you think of fairytales, yeah, they are pretty and hopeful, but you can’t neglect the fight and the struggle, for without it, there is no story or tale to be told; there is no excitement or reason for faith. It is in the struggle, like many of the characters, that you find your own inner strength, power and value, beauty, purpose and worth; you realize that you can stand amongst the enemy and can make a difference even if that means going against what the culture or society or family has told you. It’s the struggle that proves that you can do anything and all things are possible, which is often far more than you can ever imagined.

The beautiful thing about our story, is that we don’t have to fight alone; God is right there in the midst through it all as our peace and comfort when times get rough, and sometimes He does fight the battle for us. He hears every tear, even those when we are in our closets late at night for no one to see or hear; He knows our every need and desire. He knows our tale and where we came from, who we are and where we have the potential to go. Yet, like the characters in the fairytales, it’s the moment we decide to step out on faith, despite our fear and get our of our comfort zone, refusing to settle for the ordinary and choosing not to be a victim, that our story, our life begins to change. And truth be told, things may even get more complicated and worse than it was, but that’s because the Enemy never likes change; he doesn’t like it when God’s children have hope and begin to believe and walk in the abundance of a life in Christ. But as I have to remind myself, greater is he that is in me, than he that is in the world, and no matter what new trials or heavy fire the Dragon is blowing my way, I know that God will never leave me nor forsake me, and that He has equipped me to defeat the Enemy.

You can’t hope for the fairytales or want the “happily ever after” if you aren’t willing to face the dragons. It’s the fight that opens the door to your destiny to be all you were made to be.

Defeat the dragons and be you for a purpose.