"The Fisherman and His Wife" (Ephesians 5:1-21)

This short is one of the “Fractured Fairy Tales” that appeared on the Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. They always involved a well known children’s tale, but were told in such a way as to make them funny, ridiculous, and simply unexpected.

“Red Riding Hood” had the girl as a fur dealer trying to kill the wolf.

“Cinderella” had the prince up to his eyeballs in debt looking for a rich wife.

In this story, the fisherman’s greedy wife wishes for change after change. She tries to improve her life with stuff, but always ends up wanting more. Over time, the couple fall more and more out of love and out of happiness. When the fisherman finally wishes for his wife to merely be happy, everything goes back to the way it was in the beginning. This is a twist on the original, where the couple is returned to misery for wishing too much. Instead, here the original state was one of happiness that is only recognized by the fisherman when his wishes are granted.

We are often like the fisherman’s wife, wanting things to be different. We think if we could just have more money, talent or opportunities, we would be content. What we don’t realize is that God has our best in mind, and we need to learn contentment for where He has us. We have everything we need to accomplish the plans that He has for our lives. True happiness is found in purpose and in fulfilling that purpose. This is the secret to both wisdom and true joy.