Bootstrap Living

The movie Evan Almighty takes the story of Noah and gives it a bit of a modern twist.

It is a controversial movie among Christians. The portrayal of God and Noah isn’t true to Biblical form; however, there are some great teachable points.

One of my favorites is when Morgan Freeman, who portrayed God, poses the question,

“When we pray for something, does God simply give it to us or provide opportunities to exercise that trait?”

…both.

God provided everything we need to be successful in our Christian life.

He gave us His Son, who provided eternal life and the perfect example.

His Holy Spirit dwells in us and provides us with the gift of love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, long-suffering, and self-control.

The problem is when we choose to live from our flesh instead of the spirit, and when we choose to give up and groan instead of persevering in thankfulness.

We admire “bootstrap” living, but how often do we strive to achieve it for ourselves.

When circumstances get tough, do you retreat and hide behind the excuse of can’t and shouldn’t have to, or do you press on?

When things seemingly crumble and people fall short of our expectations, do you give up and blame God, or do you lean into God’s grace and forgiveness?

Circumstances are a natural part of life, and it’s naive thinking to expect not to have to deal with hardships.

Circumstances will either serve as an excuse to derail faith

or a tool to detail and refine godly character.

 

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

Romans 5:2-6

 

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Susan E. Greenwood is a wife, a mother, and a mother-in-law :D. She has over 28 years experience in youth and children’s ministries. Susan loves to write blogs, articles, devotionals, and curriculum. She has blogged for bible.org, and authors Mary Demuth, Lynn Cowell and Ruth Schwenk. Susan writes regularly for skitguys.com. Her passion is to help people live their Life In Stride with the Word of God.

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