The popular film “A Night at the Museum” is set in New York’s Natural History Museum and revolves around the bewildering experiences of Larry, the new night watchman, played by Ben Stiller.
Bob WeathersLarry expects this job to be boring. But the first night, he learns that guarding the museum will be anything but dull. Thanks to an ancient curse, the figures in the museum spring to life at night – from the massive T-Rex, to the wandering Huns, to the tiny figures of the Roman and Old West dioramas.
And there’s a daunting problem. How do you control hundreds of little bitty guys bent on battling each other and conquering you using fire? And arrows? And even trains?
And what an image that is. The cowboys lasso Larry, topple him like Saddam’s statue, and then lash him to a railroad track. Larry pleads for freedom, but the train is coming. The diminutive men shout with glee that they will defeat the strange giant. The locomotive emerges from the tunnel and is speeding directly at Larry’s temple as he struggles on the track. Suddenly the cowboys cheer, and the train collides with Larry’s head.
But – that wasn’t so bad after all. Turns out the train is diorama-sized. It is, compared to Larry, tiny. Too small to really do any damage. It just bumped him and fell from the track. All that buildup over something that really didn’t matter after all.
But have you ever felt like Larry? Lashed to the tracks and there’s a train barreling straight toward you, headlamp glowing in your face. Financial problems. A doctor’s report. An aging parent’s decline. A deadline you can’t meet.
They all seem insurmountable as they exit the tunnel. You feel vulnerable. But then you hear Jesus’ words: “Do not worry” (Matthew 6:25). And Paul’s: “Do not be anxious about anything” (Philippians 4:6). And you realize that the presence of faith is the absence of fear. You decide then to trust God, just as the train collides with your life. And the extraordinary happens. You hear yourself say, “Well, that wasn’t so bad. God got us through. I worried for no reason.”
Because in the end, all this stuff you are so worried about is pretty small compared to God, isn’t it?