New Year, New Plans?

"The heart of a man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps."

Proverbs 16:9

We've all been there. It's Midnight on New Year's Day, January 1st and you made a bunch of

promises, resolutions on how this year will be different. Only to make it maybe 2 weeks or 2 months in (if you really tried) before throwing in the towel.

In the wake of the Christmas Season, I took some time to enjoy the festivities by watching the age old 1946 classic It's a Wonderful Life. Having watch it many times already and even parodies, this time the viewing struck different. Maybe you caught on to this too or maybe I will alter your perception of the movie's plot. Either way, let's recap Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life".

We start the film with a bunch of people praying for one guy. A man by the name of Geroge Bailey. The angels meet to talk about dispatching a guardian angel down to assist George. The guardian Clarence asks Sir "Is the man sick?" to which Sir replies "No, worse. He's discouraged."

Watching this growing up I always thought this word choice was wrongly applied. The message of the movie was very clear. Your life is important. The lives you touch are impactful. So of course, since the movie talks about suicide, I thought depression was a better fit. Mental Health, depression, impacts so many.

But then Joseph walks us through George Bailey's life and that's when the real message of the movie starts making sense.

We open on Kid George going to work for the first time in months after recovering from a spill in the ice saving his younger brother from drowning. Calls Kid Mary "brainless" for not knowing where coconuts come from and then brags to her how he's an explorer and he's going to travel the world.

We see from this Geroge is an adventurist. The scene changes and George is a young man ready to go on his first adventure. But his father suffers a stroke, forcing George to delay his plans of travel by a few months to help support his father's business. Afterwards he's ready to start traveling until he is faced with an ultimatum. Travel the world or let the Building and Loan be bought out by Mr. Potter. George of course gives up his dream.

George let's his brother travel instead just to have him come back home married. This creates unsettling feeling for George because he once again can't travel the world. He's stuck having to commit to the Building and Loan.

His mother tries to play matchmaker and get him nestled with Mary Hatch. But George makes it clear he doesn't want to be married; he wants to travel and see the world and do things he wants to do. Of course, then they end up married. Ready to travel for their honeymoon (it was probably in George's vows that he finally gets to see the world).

But George is once again held back because his travel money used to save his business.

Fast forward a few years and George grows a family out of Bedford falls and everything is going well until his uncle slipped his hand right into Potter's lap. This leads to mental upheaval for George and his uncle because King Potter is sticking this to them hard.

It is here that George's character makes sense. A man who had dreams that were never fulfilled due to obligations that forced his loyalty to his family and home is now trapped in a legal binding of needing to pay off 8 thousand dollars. George really is discouraged because he is unsatisfied with his life.

Why this why that? George contemplates the choices that led him to this trap. His conclusion of course is to run away from his problems. His desire to travel, to run to escape the obligations life gave him.

And so, George enters the Twilight Zone. A world where George is removed from any and all obligations. Of course this drives him crazy, to the point where he tries to escape this reality of life void of George Bailey.

Upon returning to our universe, George realizes that his life is important because of all the people his life touched.

So, what was the lesson? You matter in this world. What was the point? Our plans don't always happen and that's not a bad thing. Of course, we watch the movie and say, "well this is how the writers wrote it and the director directed it". But this applies in our life too.

Taking the religious themes from the movie, divine provision and authorship via divine sovereignty affect our lives every second of our existence. Your motivation to change or grow or the lack thereof? Could be part of the divine plan to greatly impact someone else's life for the better.

The real lesson of the movie: Do not be discouraged when your plans fail. There might be a blessing you just haven't recognized yet.