Into the Unknown

In case you didn’t know, Disney made Frozen 2 and one of the songs they have created for the movie is called Into the Unknown. This has been one of my favorite songs for months now and seems really appropriate with what is going on in the world today.  With a pandemic changing our lives daily, people panicking, and other natural disasters happening, we do not know what tomorrow will actually be like. 

In the movie, this song is sung by Elsa, the queen of Arendelle who has magic ice powers. She is hearing this calling to do something but is afraid of changing anything since everything else in her life is going great. This song is the turning point of the whole movie and essentially starts the plot. 

Something that keeps standing out to me is the “voice” that Elsa continually talks about. I started thinking on the voices we hear everyday.  First of all, there’s our own voice. This is our inner voice that responds using our own experiences and our knowledge. It’s the voice that interacts with everything around us. The second voice is the one from the world around us. This is the voice that exists off of selfishness, fear, and doubt. The last voice is the voice of the Holy Spirit, the one Jesus gifted his followers to befriend and have guide them. It is the voice that gives hope. The voice that convicts us and helps us thrive. 

Daily we have a choice we have to make. Which voice are we going to listen to today? Are I’m we going to listen to our fears or to God who has told us He, “has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline”? (2 Timothy‬ ‭1:7‬ NLT) I feel like Elsa describes it perfectly:  

What do you want? 'Cause you've been keeping me awake

Are you here to distract me so I make a big mistake?

Or are you someone out there who's a little bit like me?

Who knows deep down I'm not where I'm meant to be?

We constantly have to discern if what we are hearing and thinking is from God or if it is us being selfish. This is one of the main reasons we have to read our Bible daily and know intimately what is written in it. 

Oftentimes we get so overwhelmed that we try to respond like this:

There's a thousand reasons I should go about my day

And ignore your whispers which I wish would go

We try to ignore the voice or avoid the situation all together. This method only works for a limited amount of time before we are faced with that exact dilemma again. Like Elsa, we tell the voices, “I'm sorry, secret siren, but I'm blocking out your calls,” but we can’t block any voice on our own. We have to chose a side. 

In this time of uncertainty, I urge everyone to fight against the voice of panic and selfishness and instead rely on God. He knew way before this outbreak what was going to happen. 

I feel like this line explains pretty well how we are all feeling: 

I've had my adventure, I don't need something new

I'm afraid of what I'm risking if I follow you

But if you are a Christian, we do not have to be afraid. Romans 5:3-5 says this, ”3 We are glad for our troubles also. We know that troubles help us learn not to give up. 4 When we have learned not to give up, it shows we have stood the test. When we have stood the test, it gives us hope. 5 Hope never makes us ashamed because the love of God has come into our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who was given to us.” (NLV) I am excited to see what God is going to do in this time of trouble. Yes, it is going to be hard. Yes we are going to struggle.And yes, we have no idea what tomorrow is going to bring. But I know that God is going to do amazing miracles and work in our lives in ways we could never imagine. He is going to grow our faith and bring an intimacy to our relationship with Him that we have never had before. Because God is my King, because Jesus saved me and gave His life for me, and because the Holy Spirit now lives in me and works through me, I know I have a Hope that goes beyond the circumstances I am going through now. 

If you are not a Christian, this is a time of panic, a time of hopelessness. I want you to know that there is someone out there who is bigger than this sickness. Someone out there that loves you unconditionally. God sent his son Jesus to live as a human here on Earth. He did that for you, while you hurt Him and ignored Him, He continued this plan because that is how much he loved us. Jesus lived as a man, struggling in life the way we have. Jesus cried and grieved when people he knew died. He got annoyed and angry. He also willingly gave His very life so that we could hang out with God. Before Jesus ever died on the cross, we could not stand to be in God’s presence because of our sin. Everybody does sin and this sin stains us. The only way to become clean is through Jesus’ sacrifice. He bled and suffered for you. We now have the hope that we can change. We do not have to be our old selfish selves but can be part of a loving family. Jesus told us we need to admit that we have sinned. We need to be completely honest with God, be sorry for how we have treated Him and turn away from our sin and selfishness. We then need to believe that Jesus is God’s son. Trust that Hod sent his son to save us. Last, we need to commit. Commit can seem like a scary word, but with God you have to be all in or not, there is no middle ground. You need to give your whole life to Jesus: your hopes, fears, dreams, desires, etc. only after doing this and letting God work on you and the Holy Spirit to guide you will you receive a supernatural Hope and Peace that goes way beyond our understanding. 

You will see that as you grow, learn more about God, and get closer to Him that you will begin to long to go into the unknown.