Blog-inspiring analogies and metaphors manifest themselves in all sorts of ways – even in Winnie the Pooh movies. As my grandson and I sat snacking and watching Pooh’s Great Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin, I witnessed an incredible comparison too good to ignore.
As the movie opens, it is the last golden day of summer. Christopher Robin tries his best to explain that he will be going to school the next day for the first time. Pooh doesn’t quite understand. So, Christopher tells Pooh, “If ever there’s a time when we’re not together, there’s something you need to remember: You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, smarter than you think, and loved more than you know. But the most important thing is, even if we’re apart, I’ll always be with you.”
As Christopher Robin goes off to school, he leaves Pooh a treasure of honey in a jar of clay. Attached is a note explaining that he has gone off to school for the day, but he will be back. Since Pooh can’t read, he relies on Owl to read it to him. Of course, Owl gets it all wrong. He tells Pooh and his four friends Rabbit, Piglet, Tigger, and Eeyore that Christopher Robin has been snatched and taken to a dark and scary place called Skull (instead of School).
Out of love for Christopher, Pooh and his friends trek through dark woods and shadowy caves. They hear growling sounds and climb a treacherous mountain all the while holding onto the treasured honey jar. When all hope is lost, Christopher Robin shows up. He had come looking for them. Each adventurer begins to realize that they had become braver, stronger, and smarter than they believed themselves to be. Eeyore gets right to the heart of the matter by saying, “Didn’t have to come out here to find it. Had it inside all along.”
We live in a Skull world with many challenges, heartaches, and troubles. Our grand adventures often require great bravery, strength, and knowledge to maneuver through the difficult days. It’s the struggles that train us to reach higher and higher. When we go back to the words of Jesus, and read them correctly though the eyes of a loving Savior, we find all we need to keep going.
Jesus told His disciples that He would be going away. But, He would not leave them all alone. They would be given a gift sweeter than honey that would go with them everywhere they went – the Holy Spirit. As Pooh remembered Christopher Robin’s words as he traveled along, we have a Spirit ready to remind us of Jesus’ words. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe.” (John 14:27-29 ESV)
The growling Pooh and his friends kept hearing turned out to be Pooh’s own rumbly tumbly. He was hungry, and the dark cave magnified the sounds from his growling stomach. When Satan’s voice growls, the Holy Spirit disconnects his microphone and turns up the volume on some sweet music. How many times do we scare the life out of ourselves because we’re listening to the lies we believe about ourselves? Tuning our ears to the voice of the Spirit will help us remember that we are braver than we believe, stronger than we seem, smarter than we think, and most especially, loved more than we know!
The best part about being a believer is the union between our hearts and the Holy Spirit. His presence makes dark things light so that we aren’t afraid of the unknown. Having the Spirit living inside empowers us to scale mountains that don’t seem nearly as treacherous in the light. As believers, we don’t keep stumbling in the dark yearning for the light because we’ve had it inside all along.
As Christopher Robin and Pooh happily meandered back to the big tree in the Hundred Acre Wood, Pooh declared, “Just in time for the best part of the day!
Christopher asked, “What part is that?”
“The part when you and me become we,” answered Pooh.
Indeed, the best part of a Christian’s life is when we become “we” with the Spirit. He makes us braver than we believe, stronger than we seem, smarter than we think, and loved more than we know!
“You [Father] live fully in me and now I live fully in them so that they will experience perfect unity, and the world will be convinced that you have sent me, for they will see that you love each one of them with the same passionate love that you have for me.” (Jesus – John 17:23 TPT)
