IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE???? OH REALLY!?!

Hello movie fans. It's that time of year when the seasonal holiday movies are rolled out for us to enjoy...and I do enjoy them. Oh a lot of them have nothing to do with what CHRIST-mass is all about...but they do give us some "sentimental hogwash" to tear up and wish our lives could be like that. One of my favorite movies is IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE. It is the story of George Bailey...who is brought to the brink of suicide...by his circumstances and dashed dreams to leave Bedford Falls and fulfill his life long desire to see the world.

It speaks of people like the Psalmist David as he plucks his blues song..."O Lord how my adversaries have increased! Many are rising up against me. Many are saying of my soul, THERE IS NO HELP FOR HIM IN GOD." Psalm 3:1,2

It speaks of the despair that Elisha's servant had when all he saw who was surrounding him and Elisha. "Now when the attendant of the man of God had risen early and gone out, behold AN ARMY WITH HORSES AND CHARIOTS WAS CIRCLING THE CITY. And his servant said to him, ALAS, my master...what shall we do?
(II Kings 6:15)
It's like the Psalmist laments in Psalm 37...where evildoers and wrongdoers seem to prosper while you are doing all the right things and can't get a break.
(Psalm 37:1)

It's like you and me...as our worlds falls apart, our economy crashes, the cold, hard circumstances of life slaps us in the face. WHAT CAN WE DO. Well the answer is the same as it was for David, Elisha's servant, and the Psalmist. God, faith, hope, love, tenacity, don't give up, press into God.

In George Bailey's case...what set his answered prayer into motion was many, many friends, neighbors, family members on there knees praying for George Baily. The movie opens with an overview of the Bailey household and you see the camera drawing back and upward as the prayers are being shot out like arrows on a mission. The prayers swirl in the cosmos and hits it's target...and an angel is dispatched to help George through the rough times.

For David surrounded by enemies...after stating his problem...he declared the answer to his problem. "But though O Lord are a shield about me, my glory and the One who lifts my head. I was crying to the Lord with my voice and He answered me from His holy mountain. I lay down and slept; I awoke for the Lord sustains me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me round about." (Psalm 3:3-6)

Elisha's servant had a master who saw beyond what was obvious and prayed for the servants eyes to be open to reality...spiritual that is..."Se he answered, Do not FEAR, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them. Then Elisha prayed and said, O Lord I pray, OPEN HIS EYES that he may SEE. And the Lord opened the servant's eyes, and he say; and behold, the mountain was FULL OF HORSES AND CHARIOTS OF FIRE ALL AROUND ELISHA." (II Kings 6:16,17)

The Psalmist in Psalm 37 was given practical things to do in the face of overwhelming odds. He says get proactive and: do not FRET, TRUST in the Lord, DO good, DWELL in the land, CULTIVATE faithfulness, DELIGHT yourself in the Lord, COMMIT your way to Him, REST in the Lord, CEASE from anger. Instead of worrying about evildoers and wrong doers who will be withering like grass and fading like the green herb under the sun anyway...get PROACTIVE IN YOUR FAITH.

TRUST IN THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART AND DO NOT LEAN ON YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING. IN ALL YOUR WAYS ACKNOWLEDGE HIM AND HE WILL MAKE YOUR PATHS STRAIGHT. (Proverbs 3:5,6)

Hmmmmm....it really is a WONderful life...when the ONE you trust is GOD...so you will have a ONEderful life in HIM.

Love and Standing Kisses
Rodney "Is That A Bell I Hear" Boyd