God's Not Dead....The Right Words at the Right Time

I have friends from all walks of life spiritually and religiously. I have never had my friendship contingent upon a persons willingness to go to church or even believe in God. How another believes has never really affected me, unless their beliefs infringed upon my own. Truly, my own soul is what I worry about....and trust me, it is a full time job.

Of late though, I have been down. Never have I lost faith but I have quite honestly, questioned God's plan for me. Life has hit some really rocky points for both me and my family and I have found myself wondering what I was doing wrong? Adages such as "God helps those who help themselves," keep creeping into my head, making me wonder if God is waiting for me to do something different. "Everything happens in God's time," is another one that keeps coming to mind. Again I wonder, when is God's time and how will I keep hanging onto the thread that my life has become, if God's time is not sooner than later? Then I remember that nothing happens without purpose and there is a lesson in everything. There is a lesson I am suppose to learn. There is something that I have yet to see and until I see it..........

So being in this abyss of wondering where I fit in, how I should move forward and wondering how I continue on in the here and now, I have found myself emotionally and spiritually exhausted. Last night Z said he wanted to watch a movie with me. This in itself was kind of a miracle, as Z has had little time for anything family related lately. He chose the movie and together we sat down and watched. The movie was God's Not Dead. Of course I had heard of the movie and I actually wanted to see it, but my movie going happens pretty seldom. Z had seen it when it came out at the movies and it apparently affected him pretty deeply as it was a time that he was going through his own issues and questioning everything......including God. At the time he said it was a movie that I really needed to see. He was right!

Now those of you who know me or who have read my blogs in the past, know that I am a Christian. I was born and raised Roman Catholic and I have never strayed from my beliefs. That being said, I have always been a big believer in people leading by example and not forcing religion and/or faith on someone. True faith and belief in God has to be a choice, otherwise it really means nothing. So I wondered about this movie. Sometimes Christian movies come off as preachy and quite honestly I wondered if this movie was going to be preachy and one sided, which is great if you believe in God, but often turns off those on the fence. Truthfully....it wasn't preachy at all.

As I watched the movie I found myself amazed at how beautifully it was done and although I am not a big movie quoter....there were some quotes in the movie that I actually took to heart. The movie took on Atheism and Christianity and gave them both equal time. Yes, it was heavy on the Christianity because it was a Christian film and for those of us who are Christian and lose track of just what that means, the film was peppered with quotes such as "God is good all the time. And all the time, God is good." While the movie is made up of interlocking stories of faith as well as Atheism, the main story line is that a young college freshman taking a first year Philosophy course is asked by the professor on the first day of class to write on paper, God is Dead, and then to sign it. Being a Christian, he is the only one in the class that refuses to. Because of this, his openly Atheist professor then challenges the freshman to take a portion of the next three class periods to prove that God is not dead, with his classmates judging his arguments. If he cannot sway them, then he fails that portion of the class. Knowing he bit off a lot, he talks to his pastor and his pastor advises him that God is guiding him and that he has to decide whether to listen or not saying "It's not easy, but it's simple." Those words struck a chord with me. Faith is simple, but for so many.....it is not easy.

The movie makes a bold and yet factual argument that a good many Atheist started out as Christians but then became disgruntled that God's time was not their time and that God's answers were not the ones they wanted to hear. Perhaps many Atheist do not believe in God, but a good many have chosen Atheism not because they don't believe in God's existence but rather that they are angry with Him, thus turning their back and denying Him is their way of punishing Him when His answer is "No!"

Along with some amazing quotes, God's' Not Dead, had many good points, one of the most important being that even here in America, Christians are persecuted and ridiculed for their faith. Schools, families, friends and often society in general make fun of faith and religion and of course there are those that simply deny God's existence altogether and ridicule anyone who feels differently. It makes standing up for and with God again, although simple....not easy.

For those that see the movie, I am sure that everyone will take something different away from it. Some will hate it, many will like, but in the end,  it will make everyone with an open mind.....think. It made me think! It gave me hope and in some ways it strengthened my faith. It was the right movie and the right words.....at the right time. Perhaps that was God's way of reminding me that I am not alone, that there is a plan and in time, all will be fine.

No....God's not dead!