Not So Fast and Furious

We can totally depend on the Lord to set out the course of our lives - He has given us His guidebook, His Word, and placed His Spirit within our hearts. Psalm 37 reminds us of God's direction:
23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, And He delights in his way.
24 Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; For the Lord upholds him with His hand.
25 I have been young, and now am old; Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, Nor his descendants begging bread.

We can choose to try to determine the course of our lives and do what we want to do, or we can surrender our lives to the One who desires to express Himself in our hearts and through our actions, bringing glory to His name.  We can have confidence and comfort as we walk in His will.  As we grow in the Lord, we can develop that sense of dependence on Him and be devoted to trusting Him with every area of our lives.

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In a prophetic passage from Isaiah 30, the prophet lays out some principles that I believe apply to us; namely, that God is directing our steps - we can read in that chapter:
18 Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you; And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; Blessed are all those who wait for Him.
19 For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem; You shall weep no more. He will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry; When He hears it, He will answer you.
20 And though the Lord gives you The bread of adversity and the water of affliction, Yet your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore, But your eyes shall see your teachers.
21 Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk in it," Whenever you turn to the right hand Or whenever you turn to the left.

Three years ago, an actor who was known for his appearances in The Fast and the Furious, as well as the NCIS: New Orleans television series decided to take a break from what is termed in a recent Christian Post article, "mainstream entertainment." 

The article relates that the actor...

...finished working on “NCIS: New Orleans” after 125 episodes when he made the decision to leave the series "to spend more time with family" and connect with his "Heavenly Father."

That's certainly a gutsy move; but Lucas Black felt it was important; he said: "There were plenty of days where I would go to work and they would still be asleep, and I would come home and they'd be already in bed,” adding, “The first three seasons … I'd be working 70 hours a week. I'm just fortunate throughout my career, I've recognized that that kind of schedule and the way the entertainment business is run, and a lot of temptations that come with it, can be really destructive to families' lives and your relationship with others."

To pull it off, the actor says, "It takes a lot of discipline, a lot of godly people around you to hold you accountable..."

The article stated:

Early in 2015, Black became intentional about reading the Bible and said he was "convicted by the Holy Spirit" which helped him dedicate himself to God. He eventually became involved in a church and a Men’s Bible study which held him accountable.

"That's really when my relationship with the Lord took on a whole new level. All the chapters and books about the Holy Spirit really spoke to me,” Black testified. “He is our advocate; He is our helper. I can rely on him in times of trouble or when I'm feeling alone and traveling around. The Lord is with us wherever we go."

Fast-forward to 2019, Black had essentially left the entertainment industry.  But what was next?  Lucas and his wife prayed about "...what the next step was going to be...” He said, “We saw a huge culture shift here in America and for a long time, movies coming out of Hollywood and in entertainment undermined the fatherhood role.”

God was faithful, and Lucas has landed a role in a film called, Legacy Peak, which is available on the Pure Flix streaming platform. He said that the role "...really sheds a good light on fathers. It shows the need for a good earthly father. It shows how we can find our fulfillment and love from our Heavenly Father, and it really is one that's going to empower the nuclear family, and especially fathers out there.”

This series of events in Lucas Black's life can remind us that we need to be open to change. Sometimes we may even need a "radical departure."  We can become so comfortable in the state of our lives that we either reject or ignore God's call to step out of our comfort zone in order to experience what He wants to do in and through us. 

We can also recognize that God's gifts and calling are unique to each person - someone might be called to impact from within a situation, someone else may sense God is calling him or her to withdraw. Black stepped away from mainstream entertainment, others are attempting to influence the entertainment industry by maintaining a Christian witness.  But, be assured that no matter what God directs us to do, we can recognize that He goes with us.  And, he has the next steps prepared for us.