I enjoy a good sci-fi show every now and then, except when they deal with time travel (don't even get me started--my brain, my poor brain). Anyway, I enjoy the space scenarios, the impossible situations, and of course, the alien encounters. In a recent episode of my current sci-fi show, two crew members were de-materialized and transported onto an enemy ship where they were to remain in their de-materialized state until the ship rendezvoused with its hive ship. Fortunately, the good guys were able to shoot down the ship before it got away. Unfortunately, the two crew members were still stored as simple "patterns" inside the ship.
Of course, this is where the first real dilemma takes place. The broken ship has only enough power left to extract one of the crew members and re-materialize him/her into the proper form. The team leader, unable to determine which pattern is which, is forced to choose one of the two crew members to save. The first crewman is restored to his rightful form and just the person to determine how to free the second crew member, who is a woman officer.
This is where dilemma number two comes into play. What no one realizes until a little later is that more than just one crew member was restored. While only one body re-materialized, both consciousnesses (the male officer, as well as the female officer) were transferred into the one body. As you can imagine, the remainder of the episode was a comical play by play of each consciousness fighting for control of the one body. It was a hoot!
Now, you're probably saying, "Um, that's great, Dana, but what does this have to do with devotions or the Bible or God? You are going somewhere with this, right?"
Hang in there. I do have a point.
The tug-of-war between the two consciousnesses caused a great strain on both the mind and body of each character (well, it was only one body, but you get my meaning, right?). In the end, the doctor determined that the only way either one of them would survive would be for one of them to let go. Someone had to completely give up control, which meant that he/she would eventually fade away completely. Unless one of them was willing to give up control, they would both die.
This scenario reminded me of my relationship with my Heavenly Father. You see, I, too, have a battle raging within me. A virtual tug-of-war takes place daily between my flesh and my spirit, each fighting for control of my words, my thoughts and my actions. Just as with the characters in the show, this constant battle for control is exhausting in both mind and body. And just as in the show, there is only one remedy--someone has to completely give up control. I think it's pretty obvious who that "someone" is, right?
And you know what? This flesh will eventually fade away no matter who currently has control, so why not surrender it now? Why not make this life easier? Why do we choose to face the same daily battles when we could avoid them by making a single choice each morning? Before we even rise from bed, our prayer should be, "Lord, thank you for another day. I surrender to you everything that I am and everything that I have to do with as you see fit. Lord, please keep me in your will so that I don't get in your way. You have control. I'm all Yours."
In case you're wondering, the extracted crewman, who was a brilliant scientist, figured out a way to extract the female's body from the alien ship and return her consciousness to her body. Other than needing a good bit of privacy for a while, both crew members were just fine. . . and they lived happily ever after.
And so can we, but only by giving up control of our lives. It's a scary thing to do, but God has proven time and time again that He knows what He's doing. Trust Him. Surrender your life. And for all those "Frozen" fans out there, let it go, let it go!
For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. - Galatians 5:17
No comments:
Post a Comment