“Once Upon a Time…”

The “Once upon a time…” story will take a while to tell, if told right.

There will be character re-enactments, vocal inflections, and lots of drama. You need all that so you can be in- the- moment. That’s what makes it a good story exciting.

My grandmother told me stories that started just like that; remember the Three Little Pigs and Red Riding Hood, the classics. Dull by today’s standards, however, that’s when my imagination came alive, and I was in the middle of the adventure, no matter how many times I heard the story.

Imaginations are wonderful. A child’s imagination can make talking animals believable, and scary. (“I’ll huff and I’ll puff and blow your house down!”)

Our story could start like that; “Once upon a time…”, but it started even bigger; “In the beginning God…” Now, that goes back a lot farther than ‘once upon a time, and better yet, God is in this story!

Want some real adventure stories? Open your Bible. It’s full of real people, real bad guys, and sometimes not such happy endings.

Let’s put our imaginations to work.

Put yourself in Daniel’s shoes.

Here’s Daniel, kidnapped as a teenager and taken to Babylon. Faithful to the God of Israel and lived his faith openly. He’d proved himself loyal to the king, and the king loved Daniel.

Daniels’ enemies had tricked the king into making a decree that if anyone prayed to any god, or human except the king for thirty days after they had written it, offenders were tossed into the lion’s den.

When he heard the news, Daniel went home, opened his window, got on his knees, and prayed as he always had before. Daniel was about eighty years old and his faith was unshakable.

Daniel’s enemies spied on him and went back to the king and reported what they saw. Distressed, the king tried to save Daniel, but once a decree was and sent out, not even the king could change it. The king was helpless. (Daniel 6:4)

At sundown, they took Daniel to the lions. King Darius said to Daniel, “Your God whom you serve continually, He will deliver you.”

The king didn’t sleep that night and as soon as it was dawn, he rushed to the lions’ den and called out for Daniel, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God whom you serve continually been able to deliver you from the lions?”  

Daniel called back, “O King, God sent His angels to shut the lions’ mouths.”

The king wrote a letter that commanded everybody to worship the living God. He also restored Daniel to the honor and leadership he had before. (Daniel chapter 6:25-28)

Wow! That’s the power and influence of faith like Daniels.

Maybe, David, full of faith and unafraid as you bend down to choose the stones that will take down Goliath. A teenager- unafraid of a giant.

David told Goliath,” You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, … whom you have defiled. This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head.” And that’s exactly what happened. (How’s that for faith and purpose?)

He was certainly skilled in being a shepherd guarding the sheep and defending them from wild animals. A crack shot with a sling. However, it wasn’t his confidence in his ability, but in God.

David’s faith in the Lord was from the experience of God’s grace and mercy in his life.

David wrote in Psalm 21:13 “Be exalted, O LORD, in your strength; we will sing and praise your might.”

How about Peter, you’re bold, full of faith, and impetuous?

Picture this, you and the disciples are in your boat when a fierce storm whips up, unlike anything you’ve ever seen before; and as fishermen, you have seen some bad ones.

Suddenly, you see what looks like a ghost out on the raging waters?

Everyone is terrified, then Jesus calls out, “Don’t be afraid, it is I.”

You yell, “If it’s you, Lord, tell me to come to you.”

Jesus said, “Come.”

You step out of the boat onto a raging sea, walking on the water and when you see the wind, instantly terrified and begin to sink.

You scream, “Lord, save me!”

Immediately, Jesus reaches down and grabs your hand, lift you up, and says, “Oh, you of little faith, why do you doubt?” Matthew 14:22

Now, imagine you are looking through the eyes of Mary, Jesus’ mother. 

The grief at seeing your son, God’s only Son, treated so cruelly and suffering so deeply; and now there He is hanging on that cross.

We will never know the extent of the pain, grief, and confusion at the foot of the cross that day.

You know Whose He is. Jesus had a purpose, a mission for His coming, God the Father ordained it, but who knew it would be like this.

As a mother, it’s too hard to take in.

I imagine the memories, the joy, and promise, and all taken in trusting faith without understanding what it all meant.

I marvel at the faith, the sacrifice, and, too, the strength of their courage.

And even in this, it has a happy ending.

It was a fulfillment of His love, forgiveness, and sacrifice for each of us if we have received Him. All is forgiven. A new life in Christ.  A new forever family and eternity with Him.

Maybe if our imaginations were as vivid as when we were children, perhaps our amazement would be greater still.

The take away: “In the beginning, God…” Genius 1:1 “It is finished.” John 19:30.