Monday, December 27, 2010

star wars

Yoda: You must unlearn what you have learned.

Luke: I don't, I don't believe it.
Yoda: That is why you fail. 

Luke: I can't. It's too big.
Yoda: Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hmm? Hmm. And well you should not. For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter. You must feel the Force around you; here, between you, me, the tree, the rock, everywhere, yes. Even between the land and the ship.
Luke: You ask for the impossible.

These are quotes that stood out to me when watching a scene between Luke and Yoda in Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes back. In this scene, Luke's X-Wing sank deep into the bog/swamp and the conversation is about Luke's disbelief in being able to get the X-Wing out and his frustration after a failed attempt of using the force to get his ship out.

I find Yoda a very wise character. I love what he says in this conversation. I also find that I can relate to Luke a lot. This is the reason why:

People/we/I have to unlearn what we have learned. Talking to Tim, I realized that this is a major theme of college ministry. That we have to unlearn the lies that we thought were truth. Lies of who God is, how God works, what identifies us, what can satisfy us, the purpose of life, what evangelism is, what the gospel is, etc. We have to unlearn these lies so that we can learn what is actually the truth. The truth of who God is, how He works, how much He loves us, how much He can satisfy us, how much He has done for us and will do for us, why evangelize, what the implications of the gospel are, what to hope for, what the reason for living is, what the purpose of life is, and so much more.

I also find that there is a difference between knowing these truths and believing it. And like Yoda infers, we fail because we do not believe. I fail because I do not believe. Whenever I fail or continue to fail, it is because somehow someway my mind or heart or both does not believe these truths that I am learning or have learned.

From these past few months, one of the things I've learned is that truth heals. When I believe in truth that God is working, God is sovereign, God is good, He loves me, He is working things out for good for me, His healing is permanent, and so much more truths, it increases my hope and expectancy to see God's glory. It overwhelms all the pain and the hurt. It destroys all the lies that I fight and struggle with.

Even more than this, with Yoda's last quote, who am I to judge this pain/trial by its size or how much it hurts. God is my ally. And a powerful ally He is.And unlike the force which is fictional although Yoda says it is everywhere, God is real and He truly is everywhere. He truly is all powerful and He truly is my ally, YOUR ally; and nothing will separate us from Him and His love for us. And I mean nothing. God has promised that and He will follow through.

Luke ends the conversation by saying that Yoda asks for the impossible and then Yoda proves him wrong by lifting the X-Wing out using the force. But I want to say to Luke that, no! nothing is impossible. In that fictional world, nothing is impossible with the force (except a few things as we learned in episode III). But in reality, in this real world, it is completely true that nothing is impossible with God. And I really do mean nothing.

God is our powerful ally and this is a truth among many that we must learn and believe.

So I leave you with this:

Unlearn lies. Learn truth. Believe truth. Live with truth. Teach truth. God loves you. He will never forsake you. Nothing is impossible with Him. He will follow through on His promises. He is good. He is in control.