I sometimes think of myself as a writer. Of course, I understand that there is a big difference between writing for a blog, and writing as a writer. Even if I were to make the right connections with the right people and actually make money off of my blog, I would still be a professional blogger, and not a professional writer.
In any case, I have several movies and a couple of TV series’ floating around inside my brain. Would anyone actually buy them if I wrote them out? Probably not, but I can dream. One of the TV series’ that I have in my head, a police officer, who also happens to be a widower and a single father, has spent years angry at God. His wife used to drag him to church, and seemingly did all the right things, and was a good wife and mother, but God took her. In the pilot episode of the series, God gets tired of this cop being angry all the time, and decides to spell some things out to him. Among them, that his wife’s death wasn’t punishment, it was just her time. If anything, it was a reward; she was right with God, and is now home with Jesus for all eternity. The only pain she knows now is that her husband isn’t living right. It’s a little more complicated than that, but you get the idea. With Jesus’ help, he manages to work through years of anger and frustration, and give his heart and life to Jesus Christ. Fast-forward a few episodes. Some bad guy captures our intrepid hero. After a certain amount of torture, the villain puts a gun in our hero’s face, and threatens to kill him if he doesn’t renounce his faith. He isn’t really anywhere near ready to actually commit murder, but he would like to hear the protagonist beg for his life. The hero, meanwhile, is trying to figure out just how far he can go before God would consider it suicide. The final conversation goes something like this: “So, tell me, where is your God, now?” “Same place He was when His Son died on the cross for the greater good two thousand years ago.” “Greater good? What greater good would be served by your death?” “I don’t know what greater good God might have in mind for my death, but, if you’ll pull that trigger, I’ll ask him.” Of course, at this point, the rogue throws down the gun in total frustration. He didn’t expect a response anything like that; it becomes evident that he didn’t understand true faith, and he certainly didn’t think that this cop had it. Shortly thereafter, some other policemen break down the door and rescue our stalwart hero. On of them makes the comment, “Man, looks like we got here just in time. Another few minutes and he probably would have killed you!” “Don’t remind me.”
I think that sometimes we misunderstand what is a reward, and what is a punishment. Granted, one man’s reward is frequently another man’s punishment. If a farmer wants rain for his crops, but a golfer wants a sunny day for his tee-time, one of them is going to get disappointed. Is that punishment? Not really, it’s just the way things are. Death isn’t necessarily a reward or a punishment, but it’s usually a punishment to loved ones left behind. Why would God take my wife/husband/son/daughter away from me? Maybe just because He knew that they would never be more ready; I don’t know. I do know that Romans 8:28 says that all things work together for good, to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose. Sometimes we don’t see the good. That doesn’t mean it isn’t there. I heard somebody on the radio a year or so ago, saying that before his last birthday, he had laid some heavy hints to his wife about this watch that he wanted. It was a pretty expensive watch, but it had some really nice features, and he wanted it. Well, when his birthday came, and his wife gave him his present, the package was completely the wrong shape; it couldn’t possibly be a watch. He tried to hide his disappointment, but when he opened the package, it was plane tickets, and a stay at a ski resort in Aspen, Colorado. Now, he could have gotten mad at his wife for not getting him the watch he wanted so badly, but quite frankly, the ski trip was so much cooler than the watch. I think some of us have ski trips stuck in our closets, and we’re angry with God because we didn’t get a watch.
In any case, I have several movies and a couple of TV series’ floating around inside my brain. Would anyone actually buy them if I wrote them out? Probably not, but I can dream. One of the TV series’ that I have in my head, a police officer, who also happens to be a widower and a single father, has spent years angry at God. His wife used to drag him to church, and seemingly did all the right things, and was a good wife and mother, but God took her. In the pilot episode of the series, God gets tired of this cop being angry all the time, and decides to spell some things out to him. Among them, that his wife’s death wasn’t punishment, it was just her time. If anything, it was a reward; she was right with God, and is now home with Jesus for all eternity. The only pain she knows now is that her husband isn’t living right. It’s a little more complicated than that, but you get the idea. With Jesus’ help, he manages to work through years of anger and frustration, and give his heart and life to Jesus Christ. Fast-forward a few episodes. Some bad guy captures our intrepid hero. After a certain amount of torture, the villain puts a gun in our hero’s face, and threatens to kill him if he doesn’t renounce his faith. He isn’t really anywhere near ready to actually commit murder, but he would like to hear the protagonist beg for his life. The hero, meanwhile, is trying to figure out just how far he can go before God would consider it suicide. The final conversation goes something like this: “So, tell me, where is your God, now?” “Same place He was when His Son died on the cross for the greater good two thousand years ago.” “Greater good? What greater good would be served by your death?” “I don’t know what greater good God might have in mind for my death, but, if you’ll pull that trigger, I’ll ask him.” Of course, at this point, the rogue throws down the gun in total frustration. He didn’t expect a response anything like that; it becomes evident that he didn’t understand true faith, and he certainly didn’t think that this cop had it. Shortly thereafter, some other policemen break down the door and rescue our stalwart hero. On of them makes the comment, “Man, looks like we got here just in time. Another few minutes and he probably would have killed you!” “Don’t remind me.”
I think that sometimes we misunderstand what is a reward, and what is a punishment. Granted, one man’s reward is frequently another man’s punishment. If a farmer wants rain for his crops, but a golfer wants a sunny day for his tee-time, one of them is going to get disappointed. Is that punishment? Not really, it’s just the way things are. Death isn’t necessarily a reward or a punishment, but it’s usually a punishment to loved ones left behind. Why would God take my wife/husband/son/daughter away from me? Maybe just because He knew that they would never be more ready; I don’t know. I do know that Romans 8:28 says that all things work together for good, to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose. Sometimes we don’t see the good. That doesn’t mean it isn’t there. I heard somebody on the radio a year or so ago, saying that before his last birthday, he had laid some heavy hints to his wife about this watch that he wanted. It was a pretty expensive watch, but it had some really nice features, and he wanted it. Well, when his birthday came, and his wife gave him his present, the package was completely the wrong shape; it couldn’t possibly be a watch. He tried to hide his disappointment, but when he opened the package, it was plane tickets, and a stay at a ski resort in Aspen, Colorado. Now, he could have gotten mad at his wife for not getting him the watch he wanted so badly, but quite frankly, the ski trip was so much cooler than the watch. I think some of us have ski trips stuck in our closets, and we’re angry with God because we didn’t get a watch.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment