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I am a sucker for a happy ending. Whether it’s an easy read or a chick flick, I love a story that ends with a good old-fashioned “happily ever after.” Perhaps it’s because I tend to be a person of order. I like the idea of everything coming together in a neat and tidy package. There is a comfort in order and a peace in predictability.

However, it is increasingly evident that life does not always go as predicted. Things do not always turn out the way we would hope. Despite the best-laid plans, there is not always order and understanding. We live in a fallen world where there are trials, illness, sadness, and death. Not exactly the script for happily ever after.

In light of this, how do we move forward without losing hope? As believers, as women with hearts fixed upon our faith, we know hope is not lost. Like the climactic moment in any good film or book, there is a pinnacle to the story; just when all seems lost, the hero enters in on a white horse and saves the day. Our Hero, our Savior, Jesus Christ, is our guarantee and our promise of the perfect happy ending. In Him there is no unpredictable turn of events; He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Among our many riches in Christ is the promise of our inheritance in Him. From the very beginning, God’s design for us has been the hope of paradise and the promise of perfection. Enter in sin, and perfection is put on pause and that promise is delayed. However, it is not lost. Perhaps it is not a desire for order and predictability that makes us long for those “happily ever after” moments. Perhaps, it is that the hope of eternity and the promise of heaven are written on our hearts. This fallen world and these broken lives are not our final destination, and so our hearts long for home. And in Christ, that is our inheritance.

In Ephesians 1:10–11, Paul shares God’s plan for us: “And this is the plan: At the right time He will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth. Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God,for He chose us in advance, and He makes everything work out according to His plan” (nlt).

All other happy endings pale in comparison to the promises we have in Christ, for our Savior bore the shame of the cross and shed His own blood so that our future inheritance would be secure. He laid down His own life so that hope is not lost. He chose us, and calls us His own, so that the promise of a heavenly home can be ours. And like the best of promises ever made, it is a gift that is freely given. No effort on our part is required. It is simply by faith—by believing in the promise, by turning from the sin of the past, and by walking forward in grace, trusting that no one can steal this promise from us. It is with hearts turned towards this “ever after” that we can find the peace and the strength for today. This happy ending is guaranteed ours when we put our faith in Christ. This is an ending that I love and a beginning that I long for. I cannot imagine a more perfect story. Can you?