I recently watched the movie; "Pay it forward, and for those of you who have never seen the movie, it is about a boy who comes up with an idea on how to change the world. The idea came from an assignment given to him by his teacher. His idea was to help three people, and ask them to help three people, and so on. It is a very good movie.
Anyway, I was really struck by what Trevor McKenney, played by Haley Joel Osment, had said when he was being interviewed in the movie. This is what he said...
"I don't know, I think some people are scared or something. Think things can be different? I mean, the world's not exactly...shit. I guess it's kind of hard for people who are so use to things the way they are - even if they're bad - to change cause they kind of give up, and when they do, everybody kind of loses."
Wow! I can so relate to what he said. It is so easy to want to give up; just stay in this familiar shell. It can by a very stressful, frustrating and lonely place, but it is what I know best; it is home.
God has really been talking to me about perseverance. I am studying Isaiah in my BSF class and a verse that really stuck out for me this week was; "If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all." Isaiah 7:9b. There was a sentence in the BSF notes, too; "You can stand firm as you learn to trust the promises of God, thereby gaining confidence and strength for the future.
I have trust issues. I realized, this week, that I am putting my trust in my fears. I don't know that I fully understand what it is that I am so afraid of. I use to think it was failure. I now wonder if it is success that I fear.
I know that my quality, quiet times with God are important. It is important for me and it is important to God. God wants to protect me, guide me, and shower me with His love and blessings. The thing is, I have to allow Him to do it. God is a gentleman; He is not going to force Himself on me.
I recently saw a very powerful play; "The Edge of Eternity". Satan kept coming out on the stage to remind us how he loves to fill our heads with lies; use our weaknesses to try and control us. If we take our focus off of God we will start to believe those lies; Satan will win us over to his side.
Look up at God, trust in Him; lean on Him because He will win the battle for you every time, all you have to do is ask.
So it is my goal to stand firm in my faith. I can't lose by allowing Satan to win; I can't lose because then everyone else loses. The way I see it, it is a more of a struggle to fight your way back to God than it is to work strenghthening the bond you already have with Him. God needs me. He has plans for me.
The video I have added to the end is a really powerful visual of our relationship with God.
