Courageous

 I scrolled nonchalantly through the movie list, not expecting to see anything worth watching. However, my eyes stopped abruptly when I saw “Courageous” on the movie list. Now, I’m not one to typically watch movies, but I knew that this was a Christian film, and I’d heard a lot of good things about it. So I settled back in my seat to watch it.

     It was about fathers. The story of five policemen who signed a resolution to be the best they could be for their families and for God. It tells of the battles Satan hurled at them as a result, and how they (minus one) conquered together through Christ. About halfway through, the dam broke, and tears cascaded down my cheeks as I thought of my own father, now deceased. What if he’d had a chance to watch a film like this, I wondered. Might things have been different?  Would it have changed him?

     My father wasn’t a bad man. He tried to do what was right. He had a passion to proclaim the truth. But like the 5^th policeman, he had “lost control of the wheel,” and didn’t know how to get it back. (Or maybe he never really had the wheel.) It wasn’t his fault, really. It started decades before, with his own father…or rather, the lack thereof. Habits were formed which I guess seemed to him impossible to break. And even though he became an SDA and passionately proclaimed the truth, he never learned of the power of the truth to wholly transform him. What if he had? Oh, how things could have been different. I try to imagine what it would have been like to have him in my life now, as a truly converted man and father – transformed.

     Yet, God reminds me again of the miracle he brought into my life through my step-dad. No, he’s not my idea of “the perfect dad” – he doesn’t have all the characteristics on my wish list, but he has the most important thing yet – a solid walk with God. And he has been an incredible example to me of what a godly man is supposed to be like. For this I thank God immensely.

     As for my birth father, well…I just hope he made things right with God before he died. It’s been a long journey, but now I can truthfully say that I sincerely hope to meet him in heaven, so we can rebuild a relationship together, and then he can learn to be a real father, the way God designed.

I highly recommend “Courageous”. It’s even better than Fireproof (in my humble opinion).