Lessons from Evan Almighty

Seldom to I come out of a movie feeling like I've learned something AND feeling good. Sometiems I leave feeling like I've been entertained -- more often that not I feel like I've left having wasted my money. But not today. Today I left feeling good --empowered, positive, strong AND I learned some things.

Here are some observations from Evan Almighty, which, obviously, were lessons from the biblical story of Noah's ark.

1) Sometimes God asks us to do things we don't want to do. Sometimes they are hard things and cost us other things that we think are more important.

2) Sometimes the hardest people to share God-given plans with are those we are closest to. We are afraid of the way they will affect those closest to us or we most fear the rejection of those closest to us. So telling our spouse or our parents or our children that we believe God is calling us to do something is harder than telling others.

3) Sometimes people who are watching us do what God calls us to do are unkind, critical, and downright mean. They laugh at us, mock us, belittle us or at the very least question our sanity.

4) A quote from the movie, "God wouldn't do anything that he does if it wasn't because he loves us. And sometimes we may wish he would stop loving us." We don't always understand the whys and sometimes we wish God didn't quite love us so much.

5) Sometimes we can run from God's call, but it follows us and gets stronger and stronger until we have to act on it. I don't know if you remember the story of our decision to adopt Jimmy internationally but I had several indications from God that this is something that God wanted -- even though we had many people who thought we were nuts. The more we hesitated, the more God pushed.

6) Sometimes God answers our prayers in ways we don't imagine. Another quote from the movie that Kari mentioned after she saw it:

When we ask God for patience, does He give us patience, or opportunities for our patience to grow? When we ask God for courage, does He give us courage, or the opportunity to be courageous?

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7) When we have spouse and God calls us to do something, it is God's responsibility to convince our spouse of the plan, not ours. We obey, pray and wait, and God will reveal to all involved what needs to happen.

8) There is a reason for us to do everything God asks of us. We may not know it at the time, but there is a reason.

9) God gives us everything we need to accomplish the task at hand. Noah was provided with what was needed as was Evan (even an "Ark Building for Dummies" book). The materials were delivered to his front yard. When God asks us to do something he's not going to fail to equip us to do it. God doesn't call the equipped, He equips the called.

10) If we tell God we want to change the world, we better be willing to do it in the way that God calls us to, regardless of the cost.

11) If the world is going to be changed, we each have to do our part.

12) The world is changed by "Acts of Random Kindness." In fact, the Evan Almighty website has a place where people can record their own Random Acts of Kindness.

and finally;

13) It doesn't hurt to do a the happy dance once and a while in celebration of small victories.