You know that feeling after a really good movie, where everything just worked out so nicely and the characters figured everything out? The one where you wish so badly that your life could feel that way, that you could be that fulfilled? Well I just watched a movie like that, and I learned a few things, not from the movie itself, but rather from that feeling afterward.
During this particular movie, the character was given a chance to experience what his life would've been like if he had made a completely different decision 13 years in his past. He ended up deeply regretting his decision and made up for it when he returned to his normal life. Granted, that is a very succinct description of a movie that had much more to it, but that's the essential idea. Afterward, I began to think about how lucky I am to be at this point in my life. If I was in a movie, I could be the young character who risks everything to go for something crazy, but on the other side of things, I could also be the young character who doesn't.
Then, I began to wonder. Can life be like a movie? Now, I know what you're thinking. No, of course not; life happens and is never as perfect as a movie. But here's the thing. People always say movies aren't real, and for the most part, they aren't. But I'm not asking if the perfection of movies is real. I'm wondering if the parts where people truly embrace life are real.
I think the answer is yes. Now, try to follow just for a second. I'm talking about those classic scenes where two people who fall in love break up and one is, of course, flying away to some faraway place for something not nearly as important, and the other races to the airport and sweeps them off their feet. I'm talking about the characters who work extremely hard for something and screw it up completely, only to find themselves finding exactly what they needed in the end. I think those things are possible in everyday life, but only when we let God take over.
I know that, being young, I want all these things for my life. But I also know the only times I've ever felt truly like I'm in a movie and life is better than I ever dreamed is when I gave something to God. I know that sometimes I'm going to be scared of things that I know God wants me to do, but if I just lean on Him and faithfully go with it it will all work out and God's plan will lead me to do things I could never do on my own.
Selfishly, I want those moments in life so bad that sometimes I forget that I'm completely incapable of creating them. And that's when I realize the most important thing I've learned this year. You have to run towards God, with everything you have, giving up everything you personally want and think you need, if you want to experience those moments when His glory truly manifests itself. Just like when you're actually running, you get tired and forget why you are even running (and possibly want to sit down and eat a cookie a whole lot more). But when you start to desire to glorify God and desire only that, that cookie is just temporary and what God uses you for is a lot more permanent and infinitely more beautiful.
Apologies for my terrible cookie metaphor aside, I just have to remember this everyday. I want to start running towards God now, and I'm not going to stop.
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