The Invincible Iron Man.....of faith? Part 6 - "Making a stand"
*disclaimer: While I highly suggest you see Iron Man before reading, (since there will be spoilers.) I would also like to say that it is not totally necessary, and that you shouldn't let not seeing it hold you back from reading.*
-Making a stand-
"I've been in captivity for three months. There are two things I want to do. One, I want an American cheeseburger, and the other... "
Tony Stark
Luke 12:11-12
Greetings, thanks for taking some time out of your probably busy day to read about God for a bit. One of the many awesome things about God is that He will use any time you can spare for Him. These days with all the distractions, worries, and pressures of life, it can be hard to find time for God, but its something very important to do. Even I've been struggling with finding time for God lately, specifically when it comes to my writing. Sometimes I catch myself thinking that there are better things I could be doing with my time then this, but then I think, what is there really that is better then spending time with the Creator of the universe and using this gift He has given me? Just something we all gotta remember from time to time when life starts getting a bit too busy for our liking. But either way, onto today's entry.
This is a part I've really been excited to write about in the course of the story so far. It is usually during a dark time in our lives that our eyes and hearts are finally opened to God and His awesomeness, you come to see His amazing power and love when you accept Him, through Jesus, and He helps you through your trials. But what about after that? What happens when you finally escape from your "cave" and come back to your "normal life" like Tony did? Do you remember what you went through? Do you let what happened change you for the better? Are you eager to share what Christ did for you, and your experience with others? Maybe your facing that now, maybe you aren't sure what to do about it. Well, lets see what Tony Stark did when he finally came home.
Just after setting foot on american soil for the first time in three months, there were two things Tony Stark wanted immediately, an american cheeseburger, and a press conference. You may wonder why I make reference to the cheeseburger, was it just because I wanted a little laugh? Well, a bit, (lol) but, its something more than that. Tony had been nearly killed, stuck in a cave in the middle east for three months, expected to make weapons for the enemy, and then worked his butt off making a suit of armor from scraps to escape, clearly not a picnic. Can ya really blame the guy for just wanting a cheeseburger after all of that? It's something we can all just go out and get without a second thought, something we take for granted, but trapped in those conditions, even that seemingly unimportant thing was now seen in a new light for Tony.
The same is true in our lives when the Lord helps out of our own troubles. Going through a tough time can really make you see what you are blessed with, and help you to be all the more thankful for what God has given you. With this new-found freedom that you now have in Christ, take a look at all of the things in your life, whether they be people, possessions, abilities, or even just the freedom to go grab a cheeseburger when you want, and be thankful for them. That little moment with the cheeseburger can be an important lesson on being thankful, something we should always try to be. In this world of fancy technology and wealth, we can get so caught up in what we don't have that we can lose sight of what we do have, try to keep that in mind next time you think life would be so much better if you only had this, or that. But back to Tony, with a bag of aforementioned cheeseburgers in hand, he now set off to his second request, a press conference. With the press a buzz with word of his return, Tony had all eyes on him. How was he? How did he escape? What had he called them all together for? What was he going to do now?
In a very out of character move, Tony had the whole press group join him on the floor. As he took a moment to talk a bit about his father and reflect on what he had experienced in the middle east, he showed a side that not many people had ever seen of him before. This must have set the minds of those gathered ablaze with wonder and questions, for Tony Stark was known as being many things, honest and humble not being on the list often, or at all. They hung on his every word and pause, what had happened to him? Was this the same Tony Stark?
The answer is no. Tony was profoundly changed by what happened to him over there, so much so infact that he couldn't keep it to himself, and people were noticing. But what about you? How much has your own "time in the desert" affected you? When such a profound, and life altering change takes place in someones life, it can be hard to hide, and for a lot of people, they don't want to hide it either. Like when God yanked me back from the edge where I was, came back into my life, and finally made sense to me, I wanted to shout it from the roof tops! I was so excited, and thankful, for what He did for me, and I wanted to share it with as many people as possible so that they could experience it too. But upon returning to our "normal lives", we can can sometimes become afraid of being different like that, and calling attention to ourselves because of it. We start to worry what people might think, what to say to them if they ask questions, if they might not accept it, or you for that matter anymore because of this change. It was something I struggled with at first myself, but thankfully I've had a pretty easy time with it so far, others aren't always as lucky...
The truth is, those things can happen sometimes. As scary as that is, sometimes people won't accept you or your new-found faith. I remember back at church a little while back, this young man came and spoke about how when his family, his own family, found out about him being a Christian, and how they tore him apart for it. The called him a number of mean things, they thought he had joined a cult, they rejected not only his beliefs, but him as well. How painful that must have been, to have your own family turn on you. But the awesome part is, that you now have Jesus with you, and He will never leave or reject you. You can run to Him for comfort when you feel weak, sad, or hurt. And not only that, but He will give you the strength, and everything else you need to get through tough times like that from now on. Following Him is never an easy road, infact I think sometimes they should call it the Christian hike, rather then the Christian walk, lol, but it is more rewarding then anything else in existence.
Though you will have to make some changes and sacrifices along the way, He will be with you always to help you through, so don't be afraid to take a stand for Him, because remember, people are watching, and you have the opportunity to take this awesome gift you have been given and share it with others. Tony Stark also had to deal with this stuff, standing up there in front of all those people, all of them waiting on his every word, and in my next entry we will see that because of what he experienced, he decided to stand up and make some tough choices as well...