I love the movie The Matrix. It is one of the better examples of what I discovered about stories after God used them so powerfully in my life. On the surface, stories can be about anything. But underneath, sometimes very clear and easy to see, and other times far more imbedded in the more general symbolism . . . is another completely different story. And most incredible of all, most storytellers have no idea there has always been a greater message lurking below.

Why? Because they never intended it. I believe in the sovereignty of God, so much so, that I believe if He really wanted to accomplish something like this, He could, by simply waving His hand. But He didn’t have to, not all on His own . . .

Because God placed some of His very essence in each of our hearts before the foundations of this world were ever established. And so, we all know the one, real, true story of humanity, deep down; unconsciously, if I may use that term We all know the one real true story, although we may have not ever realized we know it. I believe this is one of the reasons when some of us come to faith we have a déjà vu experience of sorts. For me, soon after the Kingdom of God became real to me; I had this strange feeling, almost as if I had always known the truth . . . but somehow forgot. It all seemed so eerily familiar.

And the most essential truth I had always known but forgot? – God created this world and created us to live in loving relationship with Him. That’s it. That’s the whole story, although there many other subplots, because of the mess we have made of it.

We had better ideas, thinking life would go better with us calling the shots. Sadly, this decision fractured the whole universe, and now the world we know more intimately is driven by our narcissism, and replete with disease, death and distress of all kinds.

But the God who is Love itself sent His Son, to provide a way for us to reconcile with Him. For now, we can begin the journey back to Him with the assistance of the Holy Spirit.
But we will have to wait until the end of time when God waves His hand and makes everything like it was once upon a time – perfect, righteous, loving and good, another garden beyond the imagination.

And so, in this life, the world continues to be fractured, and we all have the free will God bestowed upon us. Each and every day there are choices we make: For life. Or for death. That is the battle.

But the greater battle may be for our awareness, for our attention.

For it seems that most of humanity is asleep and always has been, just like all those millions in the movie The Matrix. Are we even aware of the real story as we have just described it? Have we ever woken up, for the very first time? This is the first question, and it is the most important question of our lives.

But just like in The Matrix, for the rebels who have always been awake, and for the rest, like Neo, who at some point woke up to the truth, the battle remains. It is very easy to lapse back into sleep, or to just get distracted by our own narcissism and to stop fighting the battle.

Or put another way — Why is this Christian life the struggle it still is after we have come to believe? Now, I don’t want to be naïve and to suggest that Jesus ever implied it would be easy, or that the Bible teaches that. It does not.

But why are so many of us still so surprised, or even disappointed, in just how hard this Christian life can be even with the Holy Spirit on board? Maybe we have just underestimated the extent of the problem. But even so, is not possible to find a better strategy, something concrete and tangible we can hold on to, to keep us better balanced, to make us a better soldier, to help us to have more victories than defeats?

Ah, yes. A great place to stop for now.
Next time.
Sam