Jim and I really
enjoyed the movie. The young man did a
great job of standing before the professor and his peers to prove his point,
and of course, we were rooting for him.
One of the
themes running through the movie, not only for the freshman, but for other
characters as well, is the truth that claiming to be a committed follower of Jesus
will cost you something, sometimes that something will be BIG. For the main character, the stand he took for
his faith threatened the future he had planned for himself. For another, it cost the love and protection
of her family. For a third, it cost the
loss of a friend. The cost of following
Jesus is one He Himself pointed out. Sometimes
we’re just so anxious for people to come to Jesus and know the blessings, that
we neglect to tell them that there is also a cost. The movie didn’t sugar coat this.
On the other
hand, as with some books I’ve read by Christian authors, this film had a “too
good to be true” quality about it. By the
end of the movie, the freshman wins over his entire class. A pastor leads a tough guy to faith, and
everyone lives happily ever after.
I was
thinking about the great works of God this film portrays as I drove to a women’s
study this morning. At first I was a bit
whiny about why the real life evidence of God’s power isn’t always as wonderful
as this movie. I’ve been praying for and
talking to people close to me about Jesus for years and not one so far has come
to faith. But then I was thinking how
this was a movie. It was based on facts,
but those facts didn’t all necessarily happen at the same time or in the same
way as the movie portrayed them. I’m
sure those who wrote the screenplay took some liberties in pulling together different
events and then putting them ALL in the same movie.
I was
thinking about how much I long to have the Lord work in that obvious, awesome
way in MY life, in REAL life, as it did in that movie. As the morning went on, in that quiet way
that the Lord often has, He tapped me on the shoulder and opened my eyes to see
the importance of what He WAS up to in my own life just this week.
One of my
current “God” opportunities is to teach middle school Sunday school. Teaching middle school kids was not an
assignment I would normally have volunteered to do. It’s been a really long
time since I’ve worked with this bunch!
If you know
an 11-13 year old, or have one living with you, then you know what they’re
like. They are full of energy,
especially verbal energy! I’m thinking
that for most of them, as soon as their feet hit the floor in the morning, they’re
talking – incessantly! Put a few of them together and a verbal free
for all is what you get. At the same
time these non-stop talkers are inquisitive, bright, insightful, curious, full
of enthusiasm, great listeners, and the BEST group to teach – once you can get
them to stop talking, of course! After morning
coffee with my husband, they are the first group I meet on Sunday morning and I
can’t WAIT!
You know
what I discovered this week as we made our way through a lesson from Mark’s
gospel? God is at work in those
kids! As they engage with the Scriptures
they ask thought provoking questions that keep this teacher on her toes. They grapple with faith issues, even more
perhaps than some adults. Some are
curious enough that they go home and pour over the Bible to do some
investigating on their own (can you believe it?).
In my real
life I may not get to see the ultimate outcome.
I may never have the privilege, as the pastor in the movie, to lead one
of these kids to Jesus in class, but that doesn’t mean God is not working in
power in those inquisitive minds, and open hearts, bringing them to faith in
Jesus.
Then there
was the phone call I made yesterday. A church
friend asked me to call her friend. This
friend, about my age, had been asked to teach a Sunday school class of high
school girls and she was not sure at all how to proceed. In the course of our conversation, in which I
described what I do with middle schoolers, and how responsive they are and how
they bless me week in and week out, we found ourselves getting excited together
at what the Lord has in store for her and her class. Maybe not as exciting as the movie, but
evidence that the Lord is at work in my ordinary, and her ordinary, lives
getting us excited at what He’s up to!
Then today,
at our women’s group, we had special visitors.
A nearby home which ministers to women battling alcoholism and
addictions came with their choir to bless us with their singing and testimonies. Through the lives of these women, all ages
and backgrounds, we could see the Lord at work, transforming women by the life
and power of Jesus.
One after another
they told their real life stories of redemption – redemption from sin and
death, redemption from a life of self-destruction, redemption of their past to
lives of productivity and dreams for the future – all through faith in
Jesus. God is at work in them – in many
ways as dramatically as in the movie.
I haven’t
seen them recently, but a couple of years ago when I was driving, I’d
occasionally see one of these little green plastic men on a suburban sidewalk,
holding a sign that said, “Children at play”.
These little guys, probably put there by parents, were reminders to us
drivers to slow down and keep our eyes open for kids.
When I’m
tempted to think that the Lord isn’t working in my real life, as compared to a
movie, I need one of those little green men with a different sign, to remind me:
“Slow down, open your eyes, God IS at
work!”
And then I need
to walk by faith in what I cannot YET see.
GOD IS AT WORK!
“Now faith is being
sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1
No comments:
Post a Comment