I've been wanting so bad to go see the movie, Maleficent; the classic fairy tale of "Sleeping Beauty" retold from a new perspective. I know...I know... I can just hear the religious legalists scoffing...A pastor's wife going to see a movie like this...how could she, right?!? Well I grew up listening to and reading fairy tales and fantasy books like the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit, and I loved them. They haven't diminished the relationship or walk that I have with my God nor have they distorted my view of Him. In fact, I still love a good fairy tale or fantasy story even today.
So I took my family to go see it. I have to say it was a great movie. I give it 5 stars. I'm not a real big fan of Angelina Jolie, but in my opinion, she did a great job in this movie. It told a tale of not necessarily evil vs good...but rather what greed, anger and revenge can do if left unchecked. Maleficent begins the story as a beautiful character inside and out, but when greed comes in from the outside world and hurts her, she becomes angry, bitter, and seeks revenge. When a great love is put before her through the character of Aurora (aka "Sleeping Beauty"), she realizes that her revenge did not accomplish what she wanted. It only hurt her and the one she came to love even more.
This makes me think of our walk with God and relationships with other people. I have been hurt tremendously by people in the past especially other Christians because I put my high expectations upon those people. There have been times in the past when I've wanted to call fire down from heaven like the prophet Elijah did to smote the person who hurt me, but the difference between my circumstance and Elijah's was that he didn't call fire down from heaven to enact vengance for himself. lol... When we are hurt because someone fails to live up to our expectations, it is human nature to become angry, bitter, and seek revenge. ...But what does this accomplish? Does it grow our walk with Him? Does it glorify Him? Does it draw others to Him? James 1:20 says, "For the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God." And in Isaiah 55:8 it says, "'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the LORD."
Since His ways our higher than ours, when we look to Him as our source of peace through our adversity, we'll find that He truly works it out. He knows the heart of man...and He knows if people intentionally hurt us. When we leave it to Him to handle, He is able to work not only on our hearts through the matter, but the hearts of those who hurt us, and He'll do a much better job than we ever could. When we take it into our own hands...we find that it won't accomplish what we want it to. Like in Maleficent's story, it might make us feel good for a brief moment, but for the long haul, it will produce even more damage to us and others. I can give you an example of letting God handle it in my life. There was a time when I had one child and was pregnant with my second child. My car broke down, and I had it towed to a place that normally would take payments to fix my vehicle. I left it there, and they said they would have it fixed in a couple days. A couple weeks passed, and they still had not fixed my vehicle. I desperately needed it to get to and from work and transport my family. When I went to the establishment to find out why my vehicle had still not been fixed, the owner was awful to me. He told me that if I didn't want to wait until they decided to fix it, then I could take my 90 lb self and move it off the lot. So that is exactly what I did. I was so angry, pregnant and all, I pushed my vehicle right off his lot. Instead of enacting revenge though, I took my situation to God in prayer, and within a week, that establishment that had hurt me was shut down. I found out after that police had raided the place a couple days after I had been there, it was shut down and the owner had been imprisoned for something completely unrelated to automechanics. I had nothing to do with it other than taking it to God in prayer. So you see, I can tell you from experience God knows...and He works these things out ...in His way ...in His timing!
Back now to Maleficent... Was Maleficent evil at its finest? Not really...she acted out in a very human way. But...just as she was an overcomer, so can we be through Christ. Look to Him to mend your broken heart and heal relationships. Look to Him to deal with situations and hearts when you have been hurt. Don't allow anger, bitterness or revenge to take hold of your life and rob you of your peace. Let Him work it out ...in His way ...in His timing. He is faithful!
So I took my family to go see it. I have to say it was a great movie. I give it 5 stars. I'm not a real big fan of Angelina Jolie, but in my opinion, she did a great job in this movie. It told a tale of not necessarily evil vs good...but rather what greed, anger and revenge can do if left unchecked. Maleficent begins the story as a beautiful character inside and out, but when greed comes in from the outside world and hurts her, she becomes angry, bitter, and seeks revenge. When a great love is put before her through the character of Aurora (aka "Sleeping Beauty"), she realizes that her revenge did not accomplish what she wanted. It only hurt her and the one she came to love even more.
This makes me think of our walk with God and relationships with other people. I have been hurt tremendously by people in the past especially other Christians because I put my high expectations upon those people. There have been times in the past when I've wanted to call fire down from heaven like the prophet Elijah did to smote the person who hurt me, but the difference between my circumstance and Elijah's was that he didn't call fire down from heaven to enact vengance for himself. lol... When we are hurt because someone fails to live up to our expectations, it is human nature to become angry, bitter, and seek revenge. ...But what does this accomplish? Does it grow our walk with Him? Does it glorify Him? Does it draw others to Him? James 1:20 says, "For the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God." And in Isaiah 55:8 it says, "'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the LORD."
Since His ways our higher than ours, when we look to Him as our source of peace through our adversity, we'll find that He truly works it out. He knows the heart of man...and He knows if people intentionally hurt us. When we leave it to Him to handle, He is able to work not only on our hearts through the matter, but the hearts of those who hurt us, and He'll do a much better job than we ever could. When we take it into our own hands...we find that it won't accomplish what we want it to. Like in Maleficent's story, it might make us feel good for a brief moment, but for the long haul, it will produce even more damage to us and others. I can give you an example of letting God handle it in my life. There was a time when I had one child and was pregnant with my second child. My car broke down, and I had it towed to a place that normally would take payments to fix my vehicle. I left it there, and they said they would have it fixed in a couple days. A couple weeks passed, and they still had not fixed my vehicle. I desperately needed it to get to and from work and transport my family. When I went to the establishment to find out why my vehicle had still not been fixed, the owner was awful to me. He told me that if I didn't want to wait until they decided to fix it, then I could take my 90 lb self and move it off the lot. So that is exactly what I did. I was so angry, pregnant and all, I pushed my vehicle right off his lot. Instead of enacting revenge though, I took my situation to God in prayer, and within a week, that establishment that had hurt me was shut down. I found out after that police had raided the place a couple days after I had been there, it was shut down and the owner had been imprisoned for something completely unrelated to automechanics. I had nothing to do with it other than taking it to God in prayer. So you see, I can tell you from experience God knows...and He works these things out ...in His way ...in His timing!
Back now to Maleficent... Was Maleficent evil at its finest? Not really...she acted out in a very human way. But...just as she was an overcomer, so can we be through Christ. Look to Him to mend your broken heart and heal relationships. Look to Him to deal with situations and hearts when you have been hurt. Don't allow anger, bitterness or revenge to take hold of your life and rob you of your peace. Let Him work it out ...in His way ...in His timing. He is faithful!