I’ve concluded that the movie industry has caused us to embrace a paradigm of desiring to live life in highlights. A movie has a way of combining days, weeks or years into a 2-hour drama or action-packed series of events. And those are the best movies; regardless of the genre, it’s the ones that grab our attention and stimulate every emotion. They’re the ones that make two hours feel like only five minutes.
A really good movie will always make life seem completely boring.
A large percentage of our population, at one time or another, has fantasized about vicariously living their lives through one of their favorite movies. Our imaginations become stimulated and, at times, run away with these thoughts. There is nothing wrong with that…
But here lies a problem….
The problem is that we develop a paradigm of desiring to live in highlights. As “drama filled” that our lives may be, it’s not a movie. Life doesn’t happen as fast as the movies. Processes are not lived-out in minutes. Victories aren’t experienced in a half hour.
Movies are NOT mountaintop living. They are highlighted moments. And although we all desire them, they can deceive us. They pull us away from living life in the valleys.
Valleys are monotonous. Valleys are boring and tedious. Valleys are times of loneliness and weeping. And frankly, these are great times of development. Most of our lives are lived in this mode. They only prepare us for our time in the spotlight – the mountaintop. Jesus lived thirty years in the Valley for a 3½ year highlight. That means that 90% of His life was in a tedious and mostly uninteresting state. And it was all preparation time to change the world.
Don’t fall prey to a Hollywood disappointment in your life. You have a story to tell. It’s forged in the valleys of your life. God is the Author of your life-story. Life must be lived out! Let the history of your life be HIS-Story about you.
Blog entry #29 – Loving the Valley!
