Trusting God (even when it doesn't make sense)

Tonight we had a discussion based on a film clip from Minority Report. Now this movie is PG-13, dealing with murder and some sexual content so check with your folks to see if it is alright to see. We started off with a trust walk. One youth leads another that is blindfolded around the church using only voice commands to aid the blindfolded one. From there we went into our movie discussion which can be found at the Source for Youth Ministry site here.

Minority Report is a movie starring Tom Cruise set in the 2050s. He is the chief of police for an experimental pre-crime division in Washington DC. Three unique siblings called pre-cogs are able to see when people commit murder in the future. The catch comes when Tom Cruise is examining a future crime, and it turns out to be him murdering another man approximately two days in the future. So during that time he is on the run.

The particular scene we looked at has Cruise with one of the pre-cogs in the mall still on the run from his pre-crime division team. The pre-cog, Agatha, keeps telling Cruise's character, Jon Anderton, about certain people pass, to take certain things, go certain places, not go certain places, etc. One time Agatha had them stand completely in the middle of a large opening where they could easily be seen for almost a minute. Anderton is wondering why they are there and wants to run, but Agatha keeps him there just in time for a balloon salesman to come in front of them and block their view from the pre-crime team looking down from a floor above.

Do we empathize with the Jon Anderton character? When you see the clip, do you say, "Come on! Move!"? It is this kind of thinking that led to our discussion about trusting God, even when it doesn't make sense. Think about the last time you wre in a difficult situation. How did you react? Did you wonder if God was taking care of you at all? Why do you think it's difficult to see God taking care of you during difficult times?

There are many stories in the Bible that exemplify this idea. In fact, the Bible is arguably mainly about God seeing if His people will trust Him. The passage we looked at is 2 Kings 6:8-17. The King of Aram sent an army to where Elisha was because he led the king of Israel away from the Aramean army. Surrounded by a vast army, Elisha's servant was frightened until Elisha prayed to the Lord to open his servant's eyes, and then saw horses and chariots of fire.

Are you more like Elisha or his servant? I think most of us have felt more like the servant. It's easy to feel overwhelmed, but seeing God's hand working amidst the strife can better prepare us to deal with it. It's like the time Jesus was in a boat with His disciples when a fierce storm arose. Do you get frightened and panic, or believe that God will take care of the situation in the best way possible?

To close, I would like to quote a popular bible verse. But I encourage everyone to meditate on it and get a deeper meaning of it. It says in Romans 8:28- "And we know that in all things God works for the good for those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose."

blessings

Trust

This was for youth group on Friday, May 4:

First we did trust walks. It's a great activity to build trust within any group. We sure had some interesting results! What you do is pair people up and put a blindfold on a person in each pair. The partner who can see has to lead the other person, but they cannot touch the other person to guide them. They can only use their voice. First, I had the youth pick their own partners, then I picked new partners that they were not as familiar with.

Questions: How did it feel to be led? Was it scary at all?
How about when you led? Did you feel a sense of power?
How was it different with people you did not know as well?

Do you trust God with what happens in your life? Can God trust you?
Both are important! We read I Corinthians 4:1-4 and Proverbs 3:5

"1So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God. 2Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. 3I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. 4My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me." I Corinthians 4:1-4

"Trust in the Lord with all our heart and lean not on your own understanding." Proverbs 3:5

I really believe those last 2 questions are ones we need to be asking on a consistent basis. Based on these 2 scriptures, our relationship with God is like that with other humans in regards to trust. It is a 2-way street. I pray for all of us to be trustworthy and to trust in the Lord.