Until last night, couched with my favorite guy after the kids went to bed, I had never seen a movie quite like this. The writer was clearly grappling with this proverb from Scripture:
Many are the plans of a man's heart, but God's purposes prevail.
Prov. 19:21
What does that mean, really? Are all of my plans superseded by God's will? How much divine intervention is injected into my free will? These are mysteries the greatest minds have not solved and the Bible does not fully answer, so I suppose they are best saved for heavenly revelation.
But when a Hollywood writer throws out a suggestion as to how this is accomplished, it makes for a fascinating movie, with Matt Damon at the helm. Angels in fedoras, passing through magical doors. An unsuspecting man accidentally glimpsing the other side of the veil. An unseen God called "The Chairman." There are no halos and supernatural, gauzy figures. These are serious, sometimes brutal men, with a job to do, and woe to the angel who falls asleep on the park bench!
Can our passionate plea persuade God to "rewrite" our story? This is the central question the movie attempts to answer. Scripture says YES. Moses' plea for the Israelites and Abram's plea for Sodom and Gomorrah, where God is in conversation with these men of faith and allows Himself to be persuaded to be merciful are two examples. What would be the point of intercessory prayer otherwise?
If you've ever wondered if you've "entertained angels unawares" (Hebrews 13:2, KJV) you will appreciate this movie. Personally, I pause at that Scripture and look around suspiciously. It means there are flesh and bone angels walking around, right? Have they brushed up against me? Have they diverted my path to protect me or to accomplish some greater good?
OK, I don't want to give too much away, but I can't stop analyzing this movie. My son is taking a Biblical Worldview course called Starting Points this year, so we have spent much time together analyzing authors' worldviews in such books and movies as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Narnia Series, The Wizard of Oz, and It's a Wonderful Life. Up next is Frankenstein. I guess I, too, am being trained to think more critically about the stories I read and watch.
The next time you spill coffee on your shirt, which puts you behind in your schedule, you might wonder: was it chance or was it the "adjustment bureau?"
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