Soul Surfer

Justin and I rented the movie Soul Surfer this past week.  We were a little skeptical about watching a movie where a girl gets attacked by a shark, but from the reviews of others, it was an inspirational must-see.

After watching this astounding young woman's story, I was completely amazed by her.  How is it that this 13 year-old girl (at the time of the attack) was so brave and composed?  How is it that she immediately leaned on God for help and guidance, even while still in the hospital and adjusting to the new journey she was about to embark upon?  How did she continue to find strength in her weakest moments of trying to make her way back into professional surfing?  For such a young lady at the time, she had such a deep, mature faith to trust God in the most difficult moment she faced in life till that point.

I read an article about Bethany Hamilton shortly after watching the film.  In this interview, she stated that a month before the accident, she was praying with her mother for a way to use her surfing to glorify God.  Through sharing her journey back into the surfing community and leaning on God the entire way, sharing her faith with all she came in contact with, she definitely exceeded her requests to the Lord.  Shouldn't we all strive to find our strength and courage from the Lord and in the meantime, share that important testimony with those we meet?  Why don't we consistently do this as Christians?  What is so hard about laying our lives down at the foot of the cross and letting Christ bear those trials for us?  Do you know the peace you find when you give your entire life to Christ?  And why don't we as Christians hold each other accountable to these standards?  Christ doesn't just say that He would like to walk with us in our lives through our difficult trials, He says He wants us to be completely surrendered to Him in every facet of our lives.  That we do not eat, sleep or breathe without our God being apart of every second of our entirety.

Bethany discovered that even through a very traumatic and horrifying trial (the attack itself and working to make her comeback into surfing) that she can do all things through Christ who strengthens her.  (Philippians 4:13)

We should embrace our weaknesses, our trials and tribulations because that becomes an invitation to trust in our God.  It becomes a chance to glorify Him with the next steps in our circumstance.  It shapes us into a deep, mature faith-seeking Christian and defines who we become.  Most importantly, it gives us the chance to glorify our God!

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.  Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest upon me.  That is why for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.  For when I am weak, then I am strong."  2 Corinthians 12: 9-11