Thursday, July 31, 2008

God for a Day


If I were God for a day/week/whatever, what changes would I make in my life?

As I think of this question, I have two reactions: one, is that it would be great to have all the power in the world. The other would be a fear of the damage I might cause. This question takes me back to the Jim Carey movie “Bruce Almighty.” Bruce thought it would be great to be God, but then realized the great responsibility that came with such great power, and how he messed everything up by granting everybody their requests. But of course the question limits the power to changing myself; what changes would I make in my life?

To answer this question presupposes that I have the knowledge of what is best for me. Of course we live our lives thinking that we know what is best. But as I have lived my life, and seen the mistakes I’ve made, I’ve come to understand that I don’t know what is best. So to be God for a day I would need to have the wisdom and insight to know what is best. I suppose that I would want to create in me a better capacity to love people unconditionally. As Christians, we want to love unconditionally, but it is oh so hard. Whenever we are wronged or taken advantage of, we want to put forth our anger to others. We might say we forgive someone, but we hold the grudge deep inside. So secondly, I’d change myself to be able to forgive for real.

I think that if I was able to make these changes, I could truly love, and encourage, and minister to others around me, and I would be able to help people experience the love of God. I know that many people long for true, unconditional love. How wonderful it would be to give them a taste of this.

This answer may not seem profound to some, but I think that love and forgiveness is at the core of who God made us to be, and is what allows us to have deep, meaningful, ongoing relationships.

How about you?