Of all the various adaptations of Batman, for many, the definitive version for the Caped Crusader is the exceptional TV show “Batman: the Animated Series”. I know it's true for me. There are so many great episodes from this series, but one of my favorites is an episode called “Perchance to Dream”.
In the episode, Bruce Wayne awakens to find his life is completely different. His parents are alive; he is engaged to be married; and someone else is Batman. He soon suspects that he has been imprisoned in a fantasy world. But to leave it, as a villain once said to Superman in a similar story-line, would be like tearing off one of his arms. Ultimately, Bruce escapes the reverie (and he does so because of a stroke of genius that few but Bruce would ever think up). For him to choose this sacrifice is noble and heroic.
This episode is so powerful because it makes the viewer contemplate their own life. It makes them stop and ask themselves: could I do what Bruce Wayne did? I have been asking myself that question. If I were in that situation, would I choose the reality – one that has pain and sorrow in it – rather than stay inside a world of beautiful mirages? My answer is yes, I would choose my real life, even with all of the challenges, because I trust in God and His plan.
As I was writing this, I became burdened at the sad notion that someone reading this is facing the worst pain you have ever felt in your life. You wish you could awaken to an entirely different reality because nothing makes sense in your life right now. It might be that you received a cancer diagnosis. Maybe you are dealing with the betrayal of your spouse; he (or she) left you for someone else, and now you face an empty house. Or in the chaotic situation we find ourselves, it could be that you lost that job you never thought you’d lose. Whatever the reasons, when I speak of trusting God, you wince and you inwardly question my decision.
First of all, please know I’m not denying the pain of life that can be agonizing at times. I may not have endured the same intense suffering you are facing, but I have felt heartache in my own life. As my 39th birthday approaches, I face stress from the covid-19 outbreak, continued physical pain, broken dreams, and a broken heart - from a death that occurred almost 5 years ago now. So when I say that I trust God, I’m not saying that it’s always easy. Sometimes when I raise my hands to God in surrender I do so with tears in my eyes.
But with all of that said, I hope you will hear my heart on this. There are a million reasons to trust God, as the Christian worship song by Passion entitled “Follow You Anywhere” puts it. One of the reasons is because we human beings have very limited vision. Our vantage point is small; we only see a page at a time, while God sees all of the events of the whole book. Jeff Dunn and Adam Palmer, in their work “The Soul of Spider-Man” write this on the subject:
“God is so much bigger than us. And he has such bigger plans for us than we have for ourselves. Think of it like this: Oftentimes we look at our lives as if surveying our surrounding by the light of a candle. In a concrete bunker…Maybe you could move around to try to glimpse some definition, but by and large, you’d be hard pressed to take a specific survey of the room with that one candle. This is how we look at our lives. Our view is dim, so our overall vision is lacking.”
One of my favorite preachers is Alistair Begg; a pastor in Cleveland, Ohio. He recently spoke of trusting God, even in the midst of unanswered questions. At one point, he quoted an old hymn titled “God Holds the Key of all Unknown” that has this line in it: “The very dimness of my sight makes me secure, for groping in my misty way I feel His hand. I hear Him say, ‘My help assured.’” Amen to that! “Today,” Alistair went on to say, “Take hold of His hand, and trust Him.”
Kevin
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