Life Isn’t A Disneyland

“We’re going to Disneyland!” was my announcement to my six and eight year old girls, to which they replied with shrieks and squeals. Their life-long dreams where soon to be fulfilled.

The trip would be long and arduous, but certainly worth the effort to be able to play in Mickey and Minnie’s backyard. I even think that waiting in the ticket line for my eager Mouseketeers seemed longer to them than the entire drive down to Southern California, but we had finally arrived.

As we entered the park, I could hardly wait to show them all of the spots I remembered as a child. We enjoyed the train ride, the stroll down Main Street, a little shopping along the way and even a tour through Sleeping Beauty’s Castle. Then I popped the question, “How do you like Disneyland?”

To my utter surprise my eight-year-old daughter turned to me with a look of disappointment as she answered, “Well, it isn’t really what I expected.”

“Tell me what you mean,” I said.

“I thought,” she explained, “Disneyland would be like a big playground, and we would get to play all day with Mickey and Minnie.”

Life, I have come to discover, isn’t always what we expect, and the things that happen in life don’t always turn out like one of those Disney cartoons with a happy ending.
Many of us spend our whole lives planning and preparing for the good things that lay ahead. As a child looks forward to Disneyland, a teen looks forward to driving and the freedoms of adulthood. A young adult looks forward to a career that will afford them financial freedom in years to come. And a middle aged person looks toward the restful and relaxing years of retirement.
Nobody plans in their idealistic life to go bankrupt, get a divorce, lose a child to death or be diagnosed with cancer. Most people don’t plan for tragedy, but sadly trials, failure and hardships could strike any one of us irrespective of who we are, or what we have been like. Jesus reminded us,

“That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” (Matthew 5:45)

As long as we live in this fallen world, in this mortal body of flesh, we are not immune to the affects and influences of our environment. Unfortunately, some never recover such difficulties, while others seem to just break even. But there are those who become victorious overcomers no matter what! In all of life’s trials I have found a biblical principle to be true. This was my grandmother’s life verse.

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

What the Apostle Paul expressed was that those who put their trust in God have a definite advantage in life. Not that they are excluded from the struggles of life, or that they are somehow unaffected by them. But rather that those who love God and walk out their lives in faith aliening themselves with His will, find that the end result of any of their adversities is only good always. Taking all of the good and all of the bad things in life, God promises “ALL THING WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD.” Not necessarily what you think is good at the time, but what Creator God deems as His overall good in accordance with His divine purposes.

This may seem to be too good to be true, but many will testify that having the love and care of God in your corner can turn many of your trials into gold. It is not too late to see God work your hardships for good, if you will put your trust in Him today.