In the
baseball scene of Twilight, we
briefly discussed how Bella has a lack of center in her life. She draws from
her own internal wisdom to navigate life, and she seems powerless. Our internal
cues can be faulty. How we view the world is based on how we perceived it as a child.
An example from my own life is my body image. For years as an adult, I thought
of my body in the way that other people described it in high school. Do you
know how much my body has changed in the past fifteen years? I am not even the
same person, yet I still held onto those childish views in adulthood. If we
fail to look back on our childhoods and see the brokenness in our views, then
we will continue to live out of a childish place.
This is
evident with Bella. Let us not miss that Bella is an eighteen year old girl in
this story. Her lack of life experience greatly impacts her decisions. For most
of Eclipse, she lets her need for
approval by others drive her actions. That is not healthy behavior. As we grow
into a relationship with God, we begin to take our needs for approval to him
alone. And we have already learned about what he thinks of us in Ephesians 1.
He loved us before we were made and continues to love us in the good and bad
times of our lives.
As the
vampires and wolves prepare for battle in Eclipse,
Bella starts to envision her own role in the fight. She sees a possibility to
turn the tides at the right moment. The apostle Paul shares his own role in
God’s greater story in Ephesians 3:7-13. Paul recognizes his calling to share
God’s love with the Gentiles, or the “outsiders” as he references. God gave him
a role in the greater story, a place to preach about the inclusivity of Christ
versus the exclusivity of religion. Sometimes we think that God only uses the
super Christians to share His love in the world. That is so untrue. Each of us
has a role in God’s divine plan to save the world. He has equipped each one of
us with gifts and abilities that are unique to His plan. God’s power enables us
to do great things. We are able to play a role and find our purpose because we
are changed by God’s love.
Think
about all of Bella’s dreams in the Twilight
series, from the first one of Edward in Twilight
to the last one about the Volturi in Breaking
Dawn. Most of her dreams deal with understanding transformation. Bella
wants to be more than her normal self. She longs to be part of something bigger
than herself. This longing reminds me of the story of Esther in the Bible.
Esther was chosen to be queen because of her looks. She received great honor
and privilege with this status. Yet, Esther had very little control over her
life. When a Jewish genocide was ordered by the king, Esther used her small
role in the empire to make a huge impact in the world. With God’s power, she
saved the Jewish people and became an unlikely hero. Bella is looking for the
same opportunity.