I am a huge fan of Star Wars. When it first came out back in 1977, I was blown away by the message behind the movie. I knew that Darth Vader represented evil and Obi-Wan Kenobi represented good. The whole movie was about light fighting darkness. I am going to take some spiritual liberties here and tell you what I saw in these movies. I don’t think George Lucas meant to do this when he wrote it, but I picked up on some great spiritual truths.

Darth Vader started out as little boy named Anakin Skywalker who wanted to fight and be a Jedi knight. He wanted to be a Jedi knight when he grew up and fight for justice. But he allowed his own dreams and desires to become more important than what he was fighting for. He allowed the dark side of himself to take over. He wanted power more than the love of his wife or fellow Jedi knights. He allowed the darkness to completely overtake his body. Obi-Wan Kenobi was a noble man who knew what the darkness could do to people. He fought for freedom and wanted to destroy the empire and the darkness it represented. He was a Jedi master and was trained in the way of the force. He was a mentor to Anakin and Luke Skywalker. Anakin chose the dark side and Luke chose the light. They are visual representations of good versus evil.

Of course there are many other beloved characters in these movies, but I want to focus in on these characters for now. The truth is we are living in a world where there is darkness all around us. There are evil forces at work trying to get us to go down the wrong path. Satan is a roaring lion who is trying to defeat us and make us think that darkness is the way to live. He has tempted us and screwed with our minds and led us down the wrong paths in our lives. Because we listen to him, we end up in bondage to different things.

Unfortunately, I was led down the wrong path because I wanted to please my Dad more than I did the Lord. I cared more about what he thought than I did God. I allowed my Dad to become an idol in my life. And to be honest, I really didn’t realize it. I thought I was doing the right thing, but I wasn’t because whenever something becomes more important than God, we get ourselves in trouble. There were also times I made my husband an idol, friendships an idol, my children an idol, my bible studies an idol. Anything we put before our devotion to God is an idol. Even though our marriages, children, ministries, etc. are good things, if we spend more time thinking about them or living for them, then they are an idol. Every day we need to place those things before the Lord and tell Him that He is more important than they are. Good things can turn into idols and we need to be aware of that.

When I finally started hearing God’s voice, I was in a terrible state. God had to get me to a place where I only had Him to listen to. My body was shaking and I had to face the issues in my life. I don’t recommend allowing things to get to this point, but that is what had to happen to me. Priscilla Shirer says, “Scripture is full of people whose most life-changing encounter with the Lord occurred while they were in place they didn’t want to be. Even difficult life circumstances are being used to give us a clear reception to hear His voice. You aren’t where you are today by chance. Sometimes God’s voice is clearest when we are in circumstances we don’t prefer.”

I definitely did not want to be where I was…. but that was the only way God could get me to hear Him.

I had a choice to make. Did I want to listen to God and live in the light, or did I want to listen to the world and live in darkness? We all have that choice to make every single day when we wake up. Do we want to live for Jesus or do we want to live for ourselves? I have had to focus on God’s truth and not my feelings in order to live His way and not mine. My feelings get me into trouble. They are not the correct representation of how I am supposed to live. My feelings stem from my circumstances and my past. I read this statement in a book by Susie Larson. “Stay within the boundaries I have set for you. You are safe here. My strong right arm will protect you as we take on certain battles together. If you venture out beyond where I have told you to go, you will be subjecting yourself to the wiles of the enemy. Stay close to Me. I will help you avoid the enemy’s snares. I will help you remember who you are. Stand strong when I tell you to. Drink from my well, and you will have all that you need.” This is based on Ruth 2:8-9.

God clearly has boundaries for us. He wants us to live within the boundaries He has set for us because that is the best way for us to live. We need to get that into our thick skulls! Living outside of the boundaries only gets us into trouble. No one is perfect and we all make mistakes. I have made so many of them, but I have to tell you that I have decided that living the Lord’s way is so much better than living my way! My way brought me destruction, tears, anger, dread, anxiety, depression and loneliness. His way brings me joy, hope, fellowship, acceptance, forgiveness, etc. I would much rather live my life His way.

Susie Larson said something else that really stuck with me. “People want to be healed and restored. They want to be an eyewitness to God’s majesty; they want to experience His power, and they want to know victory. They want to know that the Jesus you talk about is alive and active and willing to change their lives.” That statement is exactly how I feel. I want to see Him move and change me and change others. I am proof that you can experience victory! God is on our side. The “force” is with us! He is the force we need in order to deal with our issues and move past them. Satan wants to destroy us but God wants to give us life.

So we have a choice to make every day. Do we want to live in the dark or do we want to live in the light? From personal experience, I have to tell you that life in the light is so much better than I ever thought it could be. We have a Savior who is more than able to help us get through all the terrible things we have to deal with here on earth. If you have accepted Christ into your heart, then you have the holy spirit living in you and that holy spirit is Jesus. We have the same power within us that Jesus had to rise from the grave. We have the force within us people!!!! Why do I or anyone else keep trying to live our lives without drawing on that power that is within us?? We are not made to face things alone or in our own power. I lived way too many years trying to do it on my own and that is no way to live!!! Let’s kick Satan in the butt and start living our lives the way God designed us to live it! It is possible and I am living proof of it!!! I am so sick and tired of Satan lying to us and we believe it!

Oh dear friends go to God and lay at His feet and give all your worries and troubles to Him. He is more than able to help you. He has the power that we need to live our lives here on earth.

You know, Jesus also had a choice to make every day of His life:

                          Do I live for my Father or do I do it my way?

                       So eternally grateful that He chose to die so we can live.

He knew that by dying He would be able to release the holy spirit in us. The force has been released to you. Now, what are you going to do with it? Until next time dear friends….and may the force be with you! (I just had to say that!)

Psalm 144:1-2 “Praise be to the Lord my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle. He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me.”