Saturday, March 10, 2007

An interesting conversation about "Facing the Giants."

One of Paul's friends heard me commenting on the message that I received from the movie. He told me that I missed the message and went on to tell me the message. He said, "The point of the movie was if your life is falling apart and you give it over to God, that everything will work out."

Yes, that's what this 15 year old got out of the movie. I told him that everything in our lifes doesn't always work out and that sometimes God's answer to us is no.

So, he went on to explain, "The coach wasn't praying that the team would win. He was just giving his life over to God. And, his wife still loved God even when the pregnancy test came back negative. Her faith was tested."

I reminded him that he said the message was, "If you turn your life over to God, everything will work out." The implied meaning was the team WON (life worked out) because this coach turned his life over to God. So, the EXPECTATION is that all my desires, wants, needs will be met if I give God my life. I also told him that the wife was pregnant, so she only had to say she loved God for a few minutes without knowing that her desire was being given to her. There might be times in his life when his faith is tested and he might never get the results that he wanted. Yet, we are still called to have faith.

A life of real faith is living for God, loving God, serving Him, when our hopes, dreams and desires NEVER materialize.

We can be totally dedicated to God in our lives - faithful to Him - and our lives can still fall apart. The movie was suggesting that the only reason a Christian has problems is because they are LACKING in faith and in not surrending their lives to God. But, the truth is this - bad things happen to people WHO love God, who have given him ALL of their lives and they NEVER see the outcome of their faith in this life.

Why isn't Hebrews 11 preached? I challenged this young man to read "The Hiding Place." He needs to understand that the TEST of our faith and surrending to God isn't in everything working out. Sometimes, we are called to live a life of faith regardless of the outcome.

He told me that I was confused.

I told him that, sometimes, things do work out for the good. But, usually there are things in our lives that do not get answered the way we want them too and it's NOT because of a lack of faith or turning one's life over to God.

I guess I am confused.

2 comments:

§wanny said...

No, you are not confused honey! your faith has just been tested way more than most could ever dream of! you have stood firm and your faith shines from you! You have strength beyond what is imaginable, and you are a blessing to those who know you

Anonymous said...

Debbie,
Please email me at alexk@sherwoodbaptist.net. I would like to talk with you about your recent posts.

Alex Kendrick
"Facing the Giants"