Moved By Movies

The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him.  Habakkuk 3:19

The kid in all of us remembers the excitement of a snow day.  I experienced something new; many schools here in mid-Michigan had a “snow week”!  The cold and the wind and the snow just kept coming and coming so the schools stayed closed.  I got a lot of things done last week for sure but with the lesson plans done and the papers checked, I had some time to watch a few movies.  There is something completely wonderful about curling up with a blanket and a good movie in the middle of the afternoon.  I have not one athletic bone in my body, but sports movies are among some of my favorites.  I love it when the underdog wins, the hopeless find hope and the least expected turns out to be the most amazing. I have pulled four of my favorite quotes from 3 great movies for today’s post and added a twist as if they were each spoken to us by Jesus Himself. 

It’s ok to think about what you want to do until it’s time to do what you’re meant to do. (The Rookie) If Jesus said that to us, I think He’d follow it up with “so put your plans and your dreams at the foot of my cross and I’ll take it from there.  Oh, and by the way, I’ll come up with something WAYYYY better for you than you’d ever dream up yourself.  Wait for it….Wait for it!”

You’ve taught me to judge a man by the soul of him, rather than the look of him. (Remember the Titans)  That’s Jesus talking… but all too often way too many of us still haven’t learned that lesson.  It’s easy to see this quote in terms of race but I think it’s much bigger than that.  What about seeing the soul of a homeless person or a person lost in alcoholism or someone struggling with anger or mental illness? It’s not always easy to see beyond the first look sometimes but we’re supposed to.

When I told you not to get your hopes up, that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to. (Invincible)  One of the things that really hurts my heart is when I visit with someone who has no hope. It hurts my heart even more when I see a person smash someone else’s hope.  Hope is a very powerful thing and it can make amazing things happen.  Hope is a grace and it’s freely given to each of us but we have to make sure we know that putting our hope in Christ is what we need to do.  When we tell someone not to get their hopes up, we seem to be trying to protect them but I suppose Jesus would remind us to say instead, put your hope in Me because I have only the best for you….I will give you far more than you could hope for.

Sometimes bad things happen for no particular reason at all.  (Remember the Titans)  I see two big lessons of faith in this line. Lesson one, don't try to blame everything on something or someone and don’t try to explain, justify or second guess God’s motives because He sees our whole life, not just one event. Lesson two, no particular reason you can see or understand at this moment, but give Him time, He will reveal the reason and He will bring blessing and goodness because of it.  I suppose it’s also helpful to remember that sometimes the lesson and the blessing are meant for someone else and it just comes through us and our circumstance. 

There, I feel better now, thank you for allowing my lazy snow day movie watching to be used for a good purpose.

A Seed To Plant: Think of a line from one of your favorite movies that has meaning and enforces a Gospel teaching in your life.  If you have time, share it with us in the comment section so we can be inspired as well.







Blessings on your day!