Movies and Real Life

Now that I have moved into my own place I have had more opportunity to watch movies...as I clean, as I write, as I cook, as I eat chili on a cold and snowy day. Movies take us away from reality. Movies give us the adventure our lives may be missing. They give us hope. They bring us to tears. We laugh, we cry, and we can get frustrated with the stupid things the characters do. But movies are not real life.

I think that's what is so great about movies. They are not real life...or at least not my life. Granted, I do burst into song on occasion (it's the musical in me), but for the most part, movies and real life are complete opposites. Today I was watching a "behind the scenes" of a movie. They did 137 takes for one scene and then cut and paste it together to get the perfect scene. Can you imagine? 137 chances to mess up and then have the best parts of those 137 chances put together to make a great scene.

Personally, I can't stand the thought of doing the same "scene" of my life 137 times. However, sometimes I wish the "best" of life were all that was seen. :-) That is our prideful nature.

I'm currently reading a chapter in a book about humility. It's not the "doormat" humility we often think about. My pastor recently preached about humility from 1 Peter 5: 6 - 10. We have to humble ourselves before God. Submit to God knowing that He is in control and is sovereign. When we are humble it necessitates our dependence on God. That doesn't mean we sit on our backsides and expect something to happen, but we are also not to fall into the lie of our society that God helps those who help themselves. It doesn't say that ANYWHERE in scripture. Instead we need to be alert, clear-headed, vigilant.

We need to be vigilant that our enemy, Satan, is prowling seeking to devour his prey. We need to be vigilant that we do not sit in false humility and instead allow Satan to redirect that humility into our natural instinct to take control for ourselves instead of allowing God to be in control. Instead, we need to remain firm in our faith by staying connected to our Lord. Faith is knowing God is who He says He is, He will do what He says He'll do...and that is all true regardless of our circumstance.

So...life isn't a movie. We don't have all our problems worked out in an hour and a half. We don't have all the answers. We do have the best screenplay writer ever. What we do have is a God who is faithful. We have a God that can restore us and make us strong and steadfast. We have a God who cares deeply about our desires and gives us clarity in His timing so that we can continue in His will. That is better than any movie. I do believe in a happily ever after...God's....in His time.

God bless and happy movie watching!