There are no red herrings in your life

"all things"

Romans 8:28

My kids went to see the new Superman movie today.  Don't you love how the folks in Hollywood can change the name of the movie from "Superman" to "Man of Steel" and get a whole new generation to fall for it?

I kid.  I'm sure the effects will be updated, even if the storyline is not.  And I look forward to seeing it myself, to compare it with the version from my childhood.  (RIP, Christopher Reeve.)  I don't know too much about it, except that Kevin Costner plays Clark's earth father.  I happened to catch him on a talk show about how he finds himself in yet another movie where he's in a cornfield.

I also know that Amy Adams plays Lois Lane, and while I love Amy Adams, I just can't picture her as Lois Lane.  It will be fun to see what she brings to the role.

But I can wait until it comes out on DVD.  Then I'll get to see it in the comfort of my own living room, where we can pause the movie while someone gets a second helping of dinner, and so that I can ask my kids questions like: "that villain looks familiar; where have I seen him before?"

In the past couple of years, we've been watching a lot more movies.  The kids have reached the age of being in that treasured demographic group that Hollywood courts.  And lucky for Hollywood, my kids have brought the Apple of my Eye and me along for the ride. 

One of the things I like about the Superman story is that it starts when he was a baby.  They run through his whole life, up to the "present," with conversations and events that will help the viewer understand the choices he makes, and why he is how he is.  And you know that there's more to his story, but that what's included is the stuff that pertinent.  It almost causes you to pay more attention to something that might otherwise seem mundane.

As opposed to watching some sort of "whodunnit" where you spend the whole thing thinking, "Is it me, or is this guy suspicious?  Or is he suspicious simply because I'm suspicious of everyone in this show who's even slightly suspicious?"

I like to think of this "everything matters" concept when I think about Romans 8:28.  "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."

See those words, "all things"?  Focus on that.  I have a friend who says " 'All' means 'all' and that's all 'all' means."

Go ahead; say it a few times.  It'll just roll off your tongue.

So when God says "all things work together," that means that everything in your life matters.  Everything is something He can and will use.  And knowing that can give us peace and increase our faith.

It will also enable us to play fun car games wherein we remember seemingly inconsequential events from childhood and try to figure out how God has used them in our lives.  Fun for the whole family!

Isn't God super?

~ "glory in tribulations,

knowing that tribulation produces perseverance;

and perseverance, character;

and character, hope" ~

Romans 5:3-4

~