Taking Action

Several years ago I saw a movie called "Bruce Almighty" and it was about this guy, Bruce, who got all of God's powers for a week. The first few days he used them for his own gain/entertainment doing things like parting tomato soup down the center of a bowl, making his girlfriend's boobs bigger, and getting back at a group of men who had done him wrong. He loses his girlfriend due his newfound narcissism and begins to attempt to force her to love him again. He eventually learns the error of his ways and starts giving everyone else anything they want. The world dives into chaos and violence rules the streets. The point was to realize God's got a pretty tough job and that on top of everything else, He doesn't force us to love Him because He chose to give us free will. Needless to say it was a pretty silly but good movie and when the sequel came out, "Evan Almighty," I was excited to see what message could be found through it. It wasn't near as great as the first, as seems the trend in sequels, however I took one line from it that I still remember and believe holds such truth.

In the movie God tells Evan another flood is coming and he wants him to quit his high paying job and build an ark. Evan grows a beard and starts wearing a robe and sandals and constantly has animals following him around. His wife starts to think he's crazy. She wants their kids away from him and she feels like she's losing him so she prays that God would fix their family, that He would bring them back together and that Evan would return to normal. Evan asks her to come on the ark with him and weather out the storm. She's sitting at this bar in one scene talking about her struggle with a stranger (who is actually God) and he says this line that resonated with me. He says:

 "Let me ask you something. If someone prays for patience, do you think God gives them patience? Or does He give them the opportunity to be patient? If he prayed for courage, does God give him courage, or does he give him opportunities to be courageous? If someone prayed for their family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings, or does he give them opportunities to love each other?" 

The wife runs out realizing that she was pushing her family away and in the end all is well. But how true of a statement is that? So often I'll pray for something and find myself frustrated because it isn't just handed to me. We know God hears us when we pray, and when situations aren't resolved we wonder where He is. But I think maybe He's just up there saying "Get off your butt and do something about it!" He isn't going to resolve all our conflicts for us. What would we learn from that? I think God gives so many opportunities every day to make things better for ourselves and others. We just don't always see them, or take them. I hope to start paying greater attention to these windows of opportunity and realize God is answering prayers every day, in ways that aren't always plain to see.