Monday, January 24, 2011

Try Not... Do

Last night we watched “Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back” with our kids and a particular scene deeply impacted me. 


Luke is training to be a Jedi with Master Yoda in the murky, swamps of the planet Dagobah. He is in an impressive handstand with Yoda balanced on his feet attempting to use the force to move stones when out of the corner of his eye he notices his ship quickly sinking into the dark waters. Luke loses his concentration. The stones and Yoda fall bluntly to the ground. You can scroll down to watch the clip at the bottom or just read the dialogue here...


LUKE: “Oh, no!  We’ll never get it (the ship) out now!”

YODA: “So certain are you.” “Always with you what cannot be done.” “Do you nothing that I say.”


LUKE: “Master, moving stones around is one thing, this is totally different!”

YODA: “NO! No different, only different in your mind!” “You must unlearn what you have learned.”

LUKE: “Alright, I’ll give it a try.”

YODA: “NO!” “Try Not.” “Do or do not.”

So, Luke gives it a try and fails. He says, “I can’t do it, it’s too big!” Yoda scolds him, “Size matters not!” He goes on to discuss in depth that the force is his ally and its energy is felt all around him and a very frustrated Luke claims, “You want the impossible!” 


Of course Yoda uses the force to lift the ship out and move it to solid ground.  Luke responds, “I don’t believe it,” and the scene comes to an end when Yoda profoundly tells him, “That is why you fail.”

So, why the “Star Wars” recap on a Monday?

Because, I relate. I go off attempting to fix my problems in my own strength and I fail. I give up. Call it quits and claim that it's impossible. I have that very same conversation above, not with Yoda of course, but with God over my own challenges. 


How about you? Are you facing circumstances in your life that require change in you that right now looks  hopeless? 

I want to encourage us that while we don’t have “the force” to change our circumstances we do have FAITH in an Almighty and all-powerful God.

We have real reason to believe that with God we will experience victory!

Jesus tells us…


“Have faith in God. I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart.  I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours.” Mark 11:22-25 (NLT)

Like Luke, we must “unlearn what we have learned.” The lies that we have believed for so  long only bring us defeat and have kept us trapped by our circumstances. We cannot look at the size of our mess to determine our outcome. Size matters not to us because of Him!


We have to take what we can’t do to the One who can do. 

He is our greatest ally.

So, I invite you to join me in putting on a fresh attitude today:
Try Not... Do. 

May the Faith be with you!

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11 comments:

  1. So true! "We must unlearn what we have learned" Reminds me of the definition of insanity...doing something the same way over and over and expecting different results. Sometimes we are slow learners. We continue trying to fix our circumstances by our own strength when we really need to look to our Savior and our Redeemer. Thank you for this!

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  2. Oh this is so good and so true! Thank you for this reminder, things may seem hopeless to us but God has seen the end of the story! Nothing is impossible with Him.

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  3. Thanks for the reminder! I have limitations. I can not do it all. God does not have limitations. God can do it all. I need to lean on Him.

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  4. I love this, "The lies that we have believed for so long only bring us defeat and have kept us trapped by our circumstances. We cannot look at the size of our mess to determine our outcome." I can't do it, but my God can! We don't have The Force, we have FAITH. Love it!!! Thanks for this reminder. Many blessings!

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  5. I love that picture of the mountain moving! That is the coolest thing! Star Wars is my all time favorite so I love "Let the Faith be with you! Yoda is too cool! Even though he is small he is full of wisdom! I definately desire to be a "doer, not a half-wayer!" Great post!;)

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  6. May the Father and faith be with us all!

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  7. Ah, wisdom from the great prophet Yoda... :-)

    What a wonderful look at God's power through Faith! I'm thinking we need the "May the FAITH be with you" bumper stickers to be made now.

    Like young Skywalker, we need to see past ourselves to the infinite power that God brings to us. I want to do... Not try, and with His help I can.

    Wonderful post!

    Have a Blessed Day!

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  8. It can be so hard to unlearn what we have learned (or been taught by media, etc.), but I am thankful that THE force is with me :-)

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  9. I have to echo Allison's comment. It's so hard to unlearn and undo what we've considered the norm up to his point. That's when we realize it's not by our will, but His. Thank you so much for this reminder illustrated so beautifully! Be blessed :)

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  10. It's amazing how God speaks to us through the little things we do. If we will just open our hearts and listen to Him. Great post my dear and thanks for the lovely comment you have been leaving on my blogs I do appreciate your fellowship

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  11. Heidi, I love it! Great comparison! Love reading here and getting encouraged. I just realized, this is the first blog post that my boys would actually read :) LOL

    Blessings,
    Mel
    Please feel free to stop by: Trailing After God

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