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The Hulk and the Fear of the Unknown4/16/2020 Written By: Alex Sons It’s been almost a month since we announced we were doing Plain Sight and to be honest... I love it. Writing and talking about finding Christ in the things we all love has brought me a lot of joy in a pretty rough time. With our first series of podcasts, we’ve been going through some of our favorite Marvel movies and characters. We’ve examined the Black Panthers' lessons of compassion and empathy, Spider-Man’s boyish charm and the strength of our youth, and here in the coming weeks are talking all about Thanos and ‘The Snap’. If you haven’t listened to those, come relive some of your favorite movies and try and know God deeper for it with us. You can find the links on this very website. We couldn’t talk about Marvel and not mention Bruce Banner. The Hulk is one of the most famous and unstoppable members of the famed Avengers. After being exposed during the testing of a gamma bomb, Bruce Banner is given a remarkable, yet terrifying, set of powers. When angered, Banner transforms from a normal dweeb of a scientist, into a massive green wrecking ball of a monster. No longer having control of himself, who knows what Hulk is bound to do. He can be a great asset, or a terrible deterrence given the circumstance. Beware, we may travel well into the cheese factory here, but there’s a lot that Bruce Banner and his particular set of powers symbolizes. There are so many different ways you could spin his powers: the way we suppress our past tragedies and trauma until they turn us into something we can’t control, or how even the ugliest parts of all of us can be used for the good of the kingdom, but I think I’m going to take a bit of a different spin this time. Bruce Banner was in a constant fight with the unknown. He was always aware of his potential and terrified of what would happen when Hulk came rearing his ugly head. Banner spends most of his time in fear of how Hulk can and will ruin every one of his relationships and everyone he comes into contact with. He gives up on his hope of love (Natasha, the Black Widow) and goes into hiding for long stretches of time. In Thor: Ragnarok, we learn that at one point, Hulk had taken over Banner for a stretch of TWO YEARS. JESUS, THE HULK, AND ME What does this mean for us? Honestly even as I write this at 1 in the morning, I realize I could take so many angles that I might as well write a book. Doesn’t “Jesus, The Hulk, and Me” just sound like a bestseller? I’ll get to work on that, but in all seriousness, we all struggle with fighting the inevitable. Of all the things Hulk symbolizes, this seems to move me most today. The vast majority of us have absolutely no idea what these next couple months may look like. There is nothing more revealing of that than trying to plan a wedding in a pandemic (mark “Planning a Wedding in a Pandemic” on the list of book titles). Melody and I have been filled with stress, anger, confusion, and much more simply because we have absolutely no control of the situation. People have lost graduations, weddings, funerals, family vacations, and more all the while knowing nothing about what the future holds for these things. So how do we deal with this? How do we wade the waters of uncertainty with joy and confidence Christ gives us? Honestly, I wish I knew. JEHOSHAPHAT’S PRAYER When I find myself in times of great uncertainty, I usually turn to Jehoshaphat’s (typing that name several times is going to get rough) prayer in 2 Chronicles 20. Jeshoshaphat was the King of Judah back in Old Testament times. He had just returned from a long fought war against the Syrians where they returned victorious but lost many along the way, including his friend, the King of Israel. As soon as he returns, he is IMMEDIATELY stopped and given some bone chilling news. “A great multitude is coming against you from Edom, from beyond the sea; and, behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar” 2 Chronicles 20:2 (ESV) The passage said he was terrified and his very first response was to call a fast for all of Judah and to bring the nation together to pray. This has been such a light for me in my darkest moments, as a reminder that even at our lowest point and times of great fear, our first reaction should always be to call on Him. When all of Judah gathers together, Jehoshaphat delivers this BOMB of a prayer: “O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you. 7Did you not, our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? 8And they have lived in it and have built for you in it a sanctuary for your name, saying, 9‘If disaster comes upon us, the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before you—for your name is in this house—and cry out to you in our affliction, and you will hear and save.’ 10And now behold, the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom you would not let Israel invade when they came from the land of Egypt, and whom they avoided and did not destroy— 11behold, they reward us by coming to drive us out of your possession, which you have given us to inherit. 12O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” 2 Chronicles 20: 6-12 Now I know that 90% of y’all probably didn’t read all of that, but the real meat is in that last verse: “For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” What is it in your life that makes you feel powerless? For Banner it was Hulk, and for most of us today it is COVID-19 and the way it is changing our entire world. There’s something freeing about admitting that we hold no power against this massive situation we are facing. As Christians, this is when we’re able to truly put our trust in Him. So what should we take away from Jehoshaphat? Well there are a couple things: RUN TO HIMIn our darkest and most terrifying moments, our first reaction is to become the problem solver. For some of us, we can take ourselves pretty far by using our intuition and quick decision making to our advantage. That being said, we all eventually hit a point when there is nothing we can do. Instead of relying on ourselves, we must submit to him. The very first thing Jehoshaphat did was fast and pray. How often do we do that ourselves? If we’re being honest it probably isn’t very often. Once we realize our need for Him and his ability to do all things for the good of those that love Him, we finally can put into perspective the situation at hand. YOU CAN’T DO IT ALONENot only did Jehoshaphat fast and pray, but he called the entire Nation of Judah to come together to pray with him. Your local church is so much more than a Sunday Service, and although we can’t meet in the flesh, now is the time for the church to bind together. Don’t fall into the trap that because you’re home alone and away from the building that you are not in the church. Reach out to your tribe, and be there for those in your tribe that need you.
The unknown is a terrible thing, life has taken a 180 degree turn and there may be nothing we can do to stop it. What we do know, is that we aren’t meant to be alone. Unlike Bruce Banner, don’t let your faults, insecurities and baggage keep you away from those that love you. In times like this you need them, and more importantly Him more than ever.
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