God of War
Have you ever watched a movie and heard God speak to you so clearly?! It’s wild! I’m always amazed at how clearly He speaks and how He will literally use ANYTHING to get a message to me. Here’s the story.
The other day, I realized PowerBook Force premiered. I was excited! I’ve watched the Power Series for 9 years now. NINE years. Crazy right?! Anyway, because of how my life has been set up lately, I asked Holy Spirit if it was ok for me to watch it. (One day I’ll give backstory here but today isn’t that day.) He said yes. So I fixed dinner, grabbed my blanket and curled up on the couch to watch.
Now, if you’ve watched any of the Power shows for any length of time, you know they usually start off slow. That wasn’t the case this time. I was excited for the next episode! Then Holy Spirit says, “That was your goodbye.” I’m like what?! My GOODBYE???? You JUST said I could watch it! He, then, started asking me a series of questions about the show and why I liked watching it so much. I didn’t have the answers so I just let it go.
Fast forward to today. After church, I took a LONG nap. When I woke up, I was hungry so I started making dinner. As I was eating, I decided to watch Netflix. I saw the movie, Snitch, and was intrigued. I read what it was about and I asked if it’s a movie I should watch. Holy Spirit says yes. So I get comfy with my dinner and I begin watching the show. Almost immediately I said, “so I can’t watch Power but I can watch this?!” He simply said, “yes.”
**Moving forward, there might be some spoilers but I will try to keep them to a minimum just in case you decide to watch.
In the movie, Dwayne Johnson is a dad of a son who is wrongly accused of being a drug dealer. The son is sentenced to 10 years in prison. Dwayne’s character is determined to get his son out of jail because he’s a good kid. Though there is a strained relationship between the son and the dad due to divorce, it doesn’t stop dad from fighting for his kid. Dad decides to go undercover to expose the top drug dealer to get his son out of jail. Because of this, he enters into a lifestyle he wasn’t prepared to experience. He put his life on the line to save his kid from the sins, I mean, behaviors that got him locked up. Sound familiar?
There was a part in the movie when dad was being shot at, in a situation he wasn’t prepared for but he handled it with humility and loyalty. I immediately thought, “he’s doing all this, risking his life, to get his son out of jail. At that moment, Holy Spirit said, “I did the same for you.” *insert mind blown emoji*
Wondering why this is so profound for me? Lately, I’ve been struggling with my identity and truly KNOWING who I am in Christ. I know God loves me, because the Bible tells me so. But when I think about the mistakes I make daily and the mistakes I’ve made in the past, I struggle with believing God still loves me unconditionally. I’ve been praying and asking Him to help me understand my position as His daughter and help me understand what that truly means.
He did just that with this movie. There was another part when the son admits to throwing toilet paper over his dad’s new home with his new family and how he’d sit back and watch his dad clean up the mess. He found joy in his dad’s suffering because his dad had hurt him. In this moment, dad accepted the apology, understood the hurt and affirmed his son. God is the same way. He understands the things we do to hurt Him because we are struggling with the pain inside of us that we don’t quite understand. Yet He understands our pain even when we don’t. How, you ask? Because, in human form, God, as Jesus walked the earth and endured the pain and emotions we experience today. But even in our pain and rebellion against God, He still loves us as His children, if we have accepted Him at any point in life as our Lord and Savior. He doesn’t turn His back on us, even when we turn our backs on Him.
And when we are in trouble, just like the dad in the movie, He goes to war to get us out. Full out war. That’s actually one of my favorite names of God: Jehovah Tsaba, God of War. The Lion of the Tribe of Judah. Jehovah Gibbor. The God who fights for me. For you. For us. God of War.
This movie was a beautiful reminder of how much God loves me, as his daughter. It doesn’t matter how far away I go or how I try to change my name to disassociate myself from him, like the son did in the movie. He’s my Father. I’m attached to His bloodline. So I can attempt to be called by another name or allow others to call me whatever they choose, but at the end of the day, I am a daughter of Christ and when I’m in trouble, He will fight for me. And when I begin to experience the consequences of my actions, I can humble myself before Him, repent and ask His forgiveness. And He will be faithful to forgive. Why? Because I’m his daughter and He loves me. Just like He loves you.
