Scary Movies Forget the Most Important Thing

Last night, I had a bad dream.  In my dream, there was a little girl spirit who was evil.  In her life she had murdered four people, including her brother.  She was somewhat safe when she was in the form of a girl, but when she got upset, she would gain all the powers of darkness and attack us.  It was a rather intense dream. 

When I woke up, I was a bit scared, so I began to pray.  That's when the realization hit me.  Why hadn't I done that in the dream?

In horror films, we are so often presented with ghosts and demons, that we don't think about the other side of the coin.  If ghosts and demons are real, doesn't that mean that God is real too? 

As I continued this thought process, I realized that in almost all of the scary movies I had seen that the hero or heroine generally tries to defeat the 'monster' by themselves.  They try to use flesh to overcome their adversary. 

Man is a lot of things, but we are not necessarily light.  We all have both light and darkness to our personalities.  We can only be influenced by dark if we choose to allow darkness into our lives, but the only thing that will truly dispel darkness is light.

Wouldn't horror movies be different if the next time the hero was attacked by an evil spirit, they got down on their knees and prayed for divine protection? 

Part of the reason that scary movies frighten us so much is because they deal with the supernatural, with things that we don't understand and can't fight.  However, we can fight them.  The Adversary only has as much power as we give him.  Light always trumps darkness, and God is stronger than any other power. 

That doesn't mean those powers aren't real.  They are as real as God himself.  However, we have the choice to embrace them or deny them.  If we turn to God, He will give us the power to overcome our trials, tribulations, and temptations.  He will help us when we are frightened and scared. 

One of the most interesting scary movies I've ever watched was The Exorcism of Emily Rose.  It made a lasting impact on my mind.  I haven't seen it since 2005, but I remember that it was a deeply religious movie, and very different from any other film that I had even seen.  Instead of just having shocking and frightening scenes, it delved into the fact that if the Devil is real, then so is God. 

It compared psychosis and epilepsy to demonic possession and posed the question, "Does demonic possession exist, and is it often misdiagnosed as a mental illness?"  I have actually wondered this question myself as I read through the New Testament.  Anyway, in terms of the movie, I think it actually had a very nice, spiritual ending.  It left a good impression on my mind.  I didn't agree with everything that was said, but the intention was good.

In our own lives, we often try to be that hero or heroine that takes on darkness by ourselves.  We think that we are strong enough to stand alone and overcome whatever life can throw at us.  Again I say, the only thing that dispels darkness is light.  The only thing strong enough to overcome the world is our Savior, Jesus Christ.  If we don't turn to him for protection and power, we won't be strong enough to resist the evils of this life. 

These are the thoughts that my dream brought this morning.  I found them interesting, but they also bring up another question.

Do I think too much?  Probably.