Message Recap
Today we continued our Christmas at the Movies series with It's a Wonderful Life. After watching the movie's trailer, we saw a scene where George Bailey, the main character, faces intense discouragement to the point of utter despair. His life was not at all going as he had planned. Many of us, shared Pastor Dave, can relate to this scene. We start out like George did, thinking life will go one way and then we find ourselves stuck and wondering what happened.
While movies certainly show us relatable scenarios, the Bible does too. In fact, many heroes that we find in the pages of the Scriptures show us that life isn't easy or ever perfect. At times, Moses (Numbers 11:15) and Elijah (1 Kings 19:4c) reached their emotional end. They show us that this feeling of despair and discouragement is not unique to us. Even Joseph (Luke 2:10-11) probably felt this way—after all, he wasn't able to provide a proper environment for Mary to give birth to Jesus, the King of kings.
Pastor Dave reminded us that one of the best ways to overcome discouragement is to know we are not alone.
In addition to knowing we are not alone, we need to identify the sources of our discouragement. In 2 Corinthians 7:5 (NLT) we see Paul describing the reasons for his discouragement:
- Fatigue
- Frustration
- Failure
- Fear
If we can pinpoint where our discouragement is coming from, we can make healthy decisions about how to move forward.
Lastly, to overcome discouragement, we need to change our perspective. Our minds can play tricks on us, and Satan will use lies to derail us and send us into discouragement. So how do we change our perspective?
- Identify the lie you are believing.
- Replace that lie with God's truth.
In George Bailey's life, movie magic shows him the extraordinary impact his ordinary life has had on his small town. Pastor Dave concluded by challenging us to think about the positive impact we have had on people's lives in our day-to-day ordinary activities. He reminded us of the simple acts of packing Hope Packs, the simple act of running for Team World Vision this year, and the simple act of an invitation to church.
God has been working through ordinary lives to do extraordinary things for all of time. Just because your life is ordinary doesn't mean it isn't wonderful.
