What I Learned From Disney

Who would have thought that a Disney-made movie would hold such revelation for me to discover? And thank God for inspiring someone who works for Disney to take a "leap of faith" and create a fairytale-esk movie of a Biblical and very real story! On Wednesday night I watched "The Prince of Egypt" with my husband and my 2-year-old-on-Saturday niece. During and after my viewing of the movie, my heart has been stirring with new truths. Join me as I explore...

I have never really stopped to think about "timing." And I dont mean in the sense like "Oh, the timing isnt right" or "I wish I had had better timing on that one." I am talking about a much greater meaning of the word. Have you ever stopped to think about how long, really just how LONG 400 years is? Think about how much has happened in THIS CENTURY alone. That is only 1/4 the amount. We're talking about all of the events and happenings from 1600 to 2000. When I stop and think about it, I can only wrap my mind around bits and pieces of what has really happened in that span of history. During the movie, my mind was stretched out a bit.

The Israelites experienced slavery for about 400 years during the time before Moses was born. FOUR HUNDRED YEARS. Never before have I realized how long of a time that is. As I was watching, I started to realize the skeptical Israelites really did have a reason to be skeptics! I started to put myself in their situation. Say that I was born just a few years before Moses was a shepherd. I am born into slavery, growing up being toted around on my mother's back as she draws water or mixes dirt or sweeps the grounds for Pharoah's people. For years and years this becomes all that I know: slavery. No freedom, no choice, no opportunity for change. Then there is another side of my story. All of my life I've grown up with the stories. I've heard all about God and His greatness, I've heard rumors of what miracles He has performed. Yet in all of my days, in all of my parent's days, and perhaps in the last four or more generations of my family, we have never even once experienced anything of this God the stories spoke of. Perhaps they are as real to me as the fairytales of our time are to kids. "Sure, great story. But totally not real."

Then, all of a sudden, out of nowhere, Moses, a son in Pharoah's household, kills a man. He runs for his life into the desert, never to be seen again (or so people think). Things change, life goes back to normal...except for the man in the desert.

This is where my perspective shifts to Moses. I now put myself in his shoes. Wandering in the desert must be a real trip, dont you think? HA! Here I am, wandering with no one. I am all alone, all alone to weep through my disgraceful act, shaming myself into oblivion. Who can change what I have done? Who can forgive a man like me? What am I even living for? (Ever been there? Ever felt like that? I sure have.) Finally, but some stroke of luck, I am taken in by a free people group, taught how to live peacefully, how to shepherd sheep, how to live for something other than myself and my desires. I am looking at life with a totally new perspective. I am learning how to care for animals who are stubborn and stupid enough to wander off by themselves and to get stuck in situations they cannot get out of themselves. I love this new life, I love the pace of it, yet why? What can my life be worth? What am I doing here?

Then it happens. While rescuing one lost sheep, God speaks to me. God of all the stories that I have heard growing up, God who makes fire from a bush that never gets scorched. GOD ALMIGHTY. I AM. (Okay, Im jumping back to Kelli now!) This is where I experience the very realness of Moses' life story, of the biblical story that I've read many times growing up. As I watch the movie, I watch how powerful, how powerful it must have been to experience the voice of God in that cave of the mountain. As God's voice fades, Moses exhales as though he has been holding his breath for a time, and one single tear drips down out of his awe-inspired eyes. (If you havent seen this, watch this part-just this part-to experience what it's really like to meet God like that. It will move you.) Wow. Wow. Here is where I can just hear Moses' thoughts aloud: "And not only that, but God has given me a new purpose for my days and called me to something so great I never would have thought it possible. Free the people of Israel? But that's all they know! That's all they have ever experienced, that is all they expect out of life. And who am I? I cant even speak without stuttering, I will be looked upon as a murderer, and my brother Pharoah will think I have denied him, turned my back to take another's side. ME???"

And so it is. Most of you know the rest of the story. But I have just been thinking, WOW, how amazing it must be that God would be so still and let so much hurt suffering, death, and toil happen to His people for that amount of time, but then bust back onto the scene in such glory and power.

I reflect on my own life and see that I tend to live the "instant pleasure" life. Whether or not it is my own selfishness or my American-engrained culture, it consumes me. Why do I think that God is against me if He chooses to be silent for a season, sometimes I get mad even if it's just for a few weeks! It is easy to think that I can have what I want when I want, and that just transfers right over to spiritual things as well. But, God doesnt work like that! I have learned a great many lessons from this movie, nay from the Bible which is the very root of the movie. Mostly, I have learned that I cannot put a leash on God. I cannot forget what God has done for me, even if it was years ago! Who am I to assume that God is gone or away or forsaking me just because I dont hear from Him or see Him clearly for one season of my life? And who am I to say or think that my life has no purpose as His child? There are so many thoughts to ponder as I think about this and many more "ponderous" moments from the movie.

Join me next time, as I explore the thoughts on why I believe God took me through my most recent "season" of this summer.

Again, thank you for reading.

KB