I
can’t help to think of the recent movie The
Fault in Our Stars as I sit down to write this week’s lesson. The main
character Hazel Grace is dying of cancer as she meets a guy named Gus in the
same support group. As the camera views around the circle you see the kids that
buy into the whole ‘support’ thing while others show that their parents made
them come. Gus had bumped into Hazel giving away the hint that he would make
sure he got a date with the beauty that caught his eye despite the cancer. And
once the meeting let out he made the move but with a wrong first impression. He
reached for a cigarette acting as if he was about to smoke it next to a girl that carries around an oxygen tank because of her cancer. She had proceeded to
flip out and say how he was doing so good and he ruined his chances with her
before he could explain himself. He had never even lit the thing that could
slowly kill him. He had told her that he has the most dangerous thing he could
have in his mouth but how he never gave it the power to kill him.
I
have heard on so many occasions that we can’t really stop some things from
happening to us. Now things like age or work are things that are inevitable unless
you are swimming in money and are a vampire. I would have to say the one thing
that got to me the most while in school was people saying that when
you are in the moment with a guy you just want to give into it so badly despite your
morals. I realize the temptations here but I also realized the lack of
strength. Of course we all fall short and can’t keep it together 24/7…but what
if we did? I don’t think we would be perfect. Because things are meant to be
messy and confusing but only if you put up a fight.
We
can surround ourselves with powerful things all of our lives and then we wonder
when things get out of our hands. There have often been times where I set up so
many things and people around me with enough power to bury me. It seems almost
impossible to set things up in your life to last with power without it coming
back to haunt you. This my friends is the result of power being given its power. Sounds
dumb right? Giving power its own power to rule our lives sounds like a
completing statement. But going back to Gus and the cigarette. We are called to
bring big and heavy things in our lives such as a dream or a relationship. But
there are things in our lives that when they are given power they will leave a
trail of destruction. And when most people see this possibility they run for
the hills because of that chance. If we don’t have things that have
unbelievable possibilities we don’t set ourselves up for something amazing to
happen.
This
might seem all jumbled and confusing or even pointless. But think back to Gus
with the unlit cigarette in his mouth. He felt as if he had the authority.
Something that could kill him could not kill him because he did not give it the
power or the chance to fulfill that. I am not saying in any way to push God
aside and become your own authority. He calls us to follow His every word and
actions but He also calls us to take action. God is not physically here to make
a step for us. He is not physically here to push that metaphorical cigarette out of our
mist. We have to stand up and decide what is going to have power in our lives
and what is going to remain with less power or none at all. These limits are a
must or else we will find ourselves drowning in our own powers.
Now
some of you might be saying “Well what good are these things in our lives if
they don’t have their full powers?” That would be like saying what good is God
in our lives if we can’t physically interact with Him. These words are beyond
the mere idea and logic of having faith. Sometimes the presence of things do better works than their actions.
"And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding."
~Job 28:28
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