Christopher Robin: A great reminder to find joy in doing nothing

Looking for that few-and-far-between good family movie to see in theaters? Let me suggest Christopher Robin, the latest Disney live action re-make of some of its most beloved characters. The story is simple and sweet, and the message the movie leaves you with is surprising Christian: "Sometimes doing nothing is the best way to do something."

It's a foreign message in our hectic, driven society. So much stock is placed in work and gain, that we forget that God calls us to rest and enjoy His good creation too. Perhaps we've forgotten whether the price we pay today for tomorrow's achievements is really a worthwhile investment. Perhaps we need a little-minded but big-hearted silly old bear to remind us of what is really important in life.

This is definitely what Christopher Robin (Played winsomely by Obi Won Konobi, AKA Ewan McGregor)  needs. We learn early on in the film that Christopher has long since lost the wonder and simple joy of his childhood days in the 100-acre woods. Instead, he's now a thirty-something year old living in a business world where you swim or sink, and he is making desperate compromises to avoid sinking. One of these compromises is cancelling a weekend he promised to spend with his family so he can stay afloat at work. "Dreams come at a cost," Christopher reminds his daughter. "Nothing comes from nothing." His point is that he simply cannot waste valuable time getting away to do "nothing" with his family. Anything that would compromise his efficiency, Christopher reasons, must be avoided.

So of course, when a little yellow bear in a red shirt suddenly enters his life again, his first thought is, "I don't have time for this." Pooh's appearance in Christopher Robin's adult life is the inciting event of the film, and Christopher's quest to get Pooh out of his busy life and back to the 100-acre woods where the bear belongs brings a lot of simple, funny moments, highlighted by Pooh's unassuming friendliness and wit. It's these moments that have Christopher (and us too!) rediscovering the amazing benefit of joy and rest, especially with those you love, by the end of the film.

There is seriously nothing that parents should concern themselves with content-wise in this film, barring one Hefalump scare that might be frightening to super young viewers. No innuendo or insinuated adult messages (a refreshing break from Disney's trend of late!). No violence to speak of, except one quick war scene (Showing how Christopher Robin fought in World War 2). Seriously, I don't know how this film got its PG rating; it's the closest thing to "G" I've seen out of Hollywood in a long time. Add the fact that the live-action, stuffed-animal versions of Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, Piglet, Kanga, and Roo are just so darn cute and so amazingly well done (with Rabbit and Owl also smashing as real talking animals), and this film becomes a simple joy to watch.

So, looking to escape from the adult world of swimming or sinking for awhile? Take your family and enjoy this movie together! The last scene of Christopher Robin especially struck me, because of its direct parallel to something Jesus talked about. "What day is it?" Pooh asks (and I paraphrase) as he and Christopher Robin sit on a log and enjoy the sunshine.

"Well today of course, silly old bear," Christopher Robin responds.

"Oh good. yesterday being tomorrow was too much day for me," Pooh says. "I am glad it is today."

It is a reminder to us all just to enjoy today and not worry about tomorrow. As Jesus says in Mathew 6:34, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Yes, our todays have trouble, but it also has joy, if we spend it the right way. Our work can be motivated by contentment, not covetousness. Our most important things can be sitting across from us at the dinner table, not waiting to be worked on in our briefcase. We can choose to find joy in our get-it-now culture through rest, and that is a Disney message worth supporting.

Why not surrender?

My new little brother Wyatt has been having such a hard time obeying my parents. It's been such a struggle, and we keep finding ourselves asking "why???" with each new infraction and subsequent trip to timeout. My parents want only the best for Wyatt, and they are trying with all they've got to give it to him. Life would be so peaceful and awesome for him if he would be content to obey. But yet Wyatt oftentimes won't receive their love, because that would mean surrendering his will to theirs. He holds on to what he wants, wanting to control his own little life. He gets to--we can't make him submit; we can only put him in timeout--but it's miserable.

As my mom and I talked about it tonight, we were both struck by the powerful parallel of Wyatt's adoption to ours as children of God. God loved us unconditionally, while we were yet sinners, and died for us to bring us into His family. Yet, so often we are completely ungrateful for His loving fatherhood over us. What's more, we think it is oppressive!! We push forward with our own will and ignore God's. We break His commandments daily.

We do this because we selfishly want to keep control of our lives. And yet, if we would but surrender to God's will, we would truly live and experience the abundant life He has for us! It would be a life so free of conflict and worry. With each new day God gives us, we would find purpose and experience true joy as we walk in the plans He has for us.

But yet, like my little brother when he is sent to his room for timeout, here we are so often, alone at the dead end of our selfish will. Just as true, though, is that like my parents, God is waiting on the other side of the door for us. He's ready to wrap us up in His loving arms and tenderly guide us towards a life worth living. If we would but surrender to Him and trust His perfect plan for us, life would be incredible. Every day would be filled with purpose. Every moment would be full of His peace that surpasses understanding, even in the hard times.

Let's face it. we really, really suck at trying to live a life of meaning on our own.  So why not? Why not give over the driver's seat of our lives to our all-wise, all-loving Heavenly Father? I pray Wyatt will be touched by the love of his family and will learn to trust and obey my parents, so that his little life can thrive. Even more so, I pray for all of you, that you will do the same with our Heavenly Father. And please, please, pray the same for me! 

 

²⁴ Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. ²⁵ For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. ²⁶ For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? ²⁷ For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds.

Mathew 16:24-27

 

Amen!

When God says no

Have you ever had a big decision to make? If you have and if you are a Christian, than you know that lots of prayer is an essential.  You also know if the above two things are true that the Lord doesn't always give us this clear answer.You pray fervently that God would show you his will for your life and give you a clear yes or no, but when he does not, it is our job to be obedient to what has already been revealed about God's will for our lives through his Word. Knowing that we should seek first the Kingdom of God, we should take action. "Just Do Something," as Kevin Deyoung's great book on this topic states (a book I highly recommend if you have bid decisions to make!). All the while, we can trust that if we truly give our lives to God, he will establish our plans. (Proverbs 16:3)

Sometimes, however, God is gracious enough to give us a direct answer to our prayers, one that is unmistakably a yes or no. Praise the Lord for this! It is great to receive this confirmation, and our hearts should rejoice in it!

But what if the answer is no?

Here's where it gets hard. Sometimes you pray and pray about a decision, convince yourself that it is the Lord's will for your life. You take that step of faith towards that open door--only to have it shut in front of you. And it doesn't feel good--kind of like stubbing your spiritual toes, if you will allow me to stretch the metaphor. But hold on a second, isn't this the answer to prayer you wanted? Shouldn't we be amazed that God cares enough about us to give us a glimpse of the perfect plan for our lives? Who are we to set up this farce with God that "Lord, I really want to know your answer to this decision, but since I already know what is best for me, your decision has to be yes, okay?"

So how do we learn to rejoice when the answer is no? Simply, I believe, by holding to the promise of God that He really does have a perfect plan for us! When we truly believe this, we can thank God for the closed doors. Thank you, Lord, for saving me from another rabbit trail and guiding me in those good works you have planned for me! (Ephesians 2:10) I don't know how to say it any simpler: trust God, and you can rejoice in all things and under every circumstance (even trials!)! (Philippians 4:4, 1 Thessalonians 5:18, James 1:2)

Yes, this is on my mind because God did just answer no to one of the plans I had made. And yes, it didn't feel worthy of rejoicing in at first, but when I realized that God was gracious enough to give me this answer instead of letting me kick down a barred door, I found joy and thankfulness!

God is good, all the time.

Fruits of the Spirit: Joy

Joy

Joy: Feelings of great happiness or pleasure, especially of an elevated or spiritual kind.

Funny, even the Encarta Dictionary hints that joy is so much more than just “happiness” or “pleasure.” True joy is deeper, elevated above the normal pleasures of life. The purest kind of joy is found, quite simply, in Christ (I.E. “the spiritual kind”)! This is the joy that is found as the second fruit of the Spirit.

You (God) will make known to me the path of life; in Your presence is the fullness of joy. (Psalm 16:11)

Christians should be the most joyful people on earth. We live in the presence of God, and in Him is the fullness of joy! True Christians can’t help but sing joyfully or make a joyful noise to the Lord! No wonder David, the man after God’s own heart, mentioned joy so much in his Psalms.

Jesus, right before he was betrayed, told of this joy we have in Him. At the time, His disciples were deeply confused and worried, for Jesus had just revealed to them that He must “go to Him who sent Me.” Jesus comforted them with these words:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, that you will weep and lament; but your grief will be turned into joy. Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world. Therefore you too have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you. In that day you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you. Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full.” (John 16: 20-24)

Jesus loves us more than we could ever imagine and wants our joy to be complete in Him; that much is pretty clear even from this passage. Isn’t it awesome being a Christian?

Practical Application

Do you ever have a problem feeling joyful? Me too. Sometimes things seem just too stressful or (to use teenager lingo) “messed up” to have this abundant joy in God. Jesus must have known that worry would often claim mortal combat with this joy we are meant to live in, for He devotes a good chunk of His Sermon on the Mount on the subject of worry. You can read the whole passage in Mathew 6:25-34, but the passage can be summarized in these verses:

“Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Mathew 6:31-34)

We can trust our God! We need never worry about anything, for He knows what we need and will provide for us. Even when it’s hard, we can always have joy in God!

Another way to cultivate this joy in our lives is simply to abide in Jesus’s love:

“Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.” (John 15:9-11)

As I detailed in my previous post of this series, it all goes back to keeping God’s commandments. I have a sneaking suspicion that this will be a main theme of this study on the fruits of the Spirit. If you keep God’s commandments, you will abide in Christ’s love; if you abide in Christ’s love, your joy will be made full!

I ditto Paul’s prayer to the Romans for all of us:

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13)

Amen!