What's Hiding Inside?

A bible study based on the book "A Wrinkle In Time"

See how many words you can make out of these letters: A WRINKLE IN TIME

In the simple phrase, “A Wrinkle in Time.” 4 small words. 5 nondescript syllables. 14 unremarkable letters. But as we discovered, hidden inside there was a vast language! Did you know that rearranging those 14 insignificant letters can create 748 different words in the English language? There’s a lot hiding underneath.

It’s like that with us. On first glance, we may look pretty normal. The dancer. The jock. The joker. The writer. The slacker. Nothing new or special about you or me. But pierce the surface of any one of us, you’ll discover unending universes of thoughts, emotions, hopes, pain, dreams, regrets, curiosities and total weirdness! Those combinations of universes are what make us so unique – unlike anyone who has ever lived before us or after.

Made to Be Wonderful

In Psalm 139, the writer says to God, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” (Psalm 139:13-14) “Fearfully and wonderfully made.” “Knit together.” We are complex, aren’t we? A marvelous and messy interwoven jumble of good and bad, truth and fiction, reality and fantasy.

A Wrinkle In Time is the classic book by Madeline L’Engle. It has a very strong Christian theme throughout the book, yet the current movie leaves all of that out. The book tells the story of Meg and Charles as they attempt to find their missing scientist father. Meg is a complicated collection of thoughts and emotions. She’s smart but insecure. Calm, but emotional. Strong, yet weak. Abandoned at a young age by her father in an unsolved disappearance, Meg is missing a part of herself and often feels adrift. But then, a mysterious being enters her life. Meg and Charles don’t know what to make of this eccentric woman, named Mrs. Whatsit.

The first thing you may notice about Mrs. Whatsit is that she is a bit strange. Her mannerisms, her insights. But at the end of that clip, Mrs. Whatsit says something so profound. “We can’t take any credit for our talents – it’s how we use them that counts.” Which of you can take credit for your height? Or the color of your eyes? Or your accurate throwing arm? Or your childhood love of reading? Or your out-of-nowhere interest in baking, or music, or math, or running? Where did those skills and interests come from in the first place?

Wherever they came from, however they were knitted into us, those special talents are hiding beneath the surface in us. Hiding deeper still is the willingness to use our talents not for ourselves – but to the benefit of others. That is the real reason we were granted these gifts. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10)

Catch all that? We’re God’s handiwork - knit together by Him
Created in Jesus for what purpose? Good works. Those good works are the evidence we are in His image.
Which God prepared beforehand – we are part of a dynamic ever-unfolding, eternal plan. We are a critical part of his perfect machine. Wow!
That we should walk in them – which basically means “so get to it!!”

Mrs. Whatsit knows her Biblical truth when she counsels Meg: it’s not the talent. It’s how we use them that matters. Great talents are hiding inside us – but so is the capacity to use them for good.

Let’s look at other qualities hiding underneath the surface. Meg and her Mom are talking about someone they both love that they’ve lost. Meg says to her mom, "Dad's not ever coming back, is he?" Her mom talks to her and let's her know that she must have hope.

Don’t Give Up

What do we see here hiding under the surface with Meg? What are some of her emotions? These aren’t normally emotions we reveal. Usually, we bury those feelings deep down inside, don’t we? Maybe like Meg, you are struggling under the surface with hurts that are hard to talk about. Maybe those hurts are self-inflicted. Maybe, like Meg, those hurts just happened to you through no fault of your own.

I want to tell you two important things about inner pain: First, I want to affirm for you that those hurts are real and shouldn’t be ignored or denied. It’s when we try to bury our pain that it comes out in unintended ways, like Meg getting in trouble at school with her principal and classmate. Think back on your own life – have you ever silently been experiencing anger or frustration with one thing, and those emotions seep out onto something or someone who has absolutely nothing to do it? We’ve all been there, right? That usually happens when we don’t confront what’s been hurting us.

Second, it’s that healing from those pains is 100% possible. And healing often comes in a variety of ways. Sometimes it happens over time. If you get a “C” on a test you thought you aced, or get turned down for a date, that stings in the moment – but it doesn’t sting forever, right? “He will wipe away EVERY tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:4)

So time can and will be a healer. Talking about it can help heal us as well. Sharing our pain with others – parents, friends, teachers, counselors, is a time-tested way to help heal. But that requires two ingredients: a willingness to be vulnerable and share our pain and a willing friend to share our pain. “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2)

Sharing in one another’s pain and heartache is not only something we are encouraged to do, but by doing so it fulfills the law of Christ. What does that mean – “fulfill the law of Christ?” Jesus spells out very clearly to his followers what he means. “A new command I give you: love one another. As I have loved you so you must love one another.” (John 13:34)

So Jesus is telling us what it means to fulfill the law of Christ – that in bearing each other’s burdens we love as he loved us. Isn’t that awesome? By being a good friend, by being an active and empathetic listener, we show love, and we help heal. We get to be part of that mysterious healing process!

In A WRINKLE IN TIME, Charles and Calvin share in Meg’s burden by traveling with her across time and space to save her father. That’s love. And that gave her hope to press on. But there’s another lesson to be learned from the pains that are hidden under the surface of our lives. They shape us and make us stronger!

Be a Warrior

In the story Mrs. Which tells Meg to be a warrior. Why? Because Meg is afraid. Fear is a VERY real emotion that can practically paralyze us!

There are silly-fun irrational fears, but there are also natural, deep-seeded, genuine fears. Meg feels those marrow-deep fears: What if I die? What if I fail? What if my Dad doesn’t remember me? What if he left us for a reason? What if he doesn’t want to come back? Every one of those fears re-opens a festering wound of pain for Meg. Her fears aren’t a tiny spider high on a wall; these fears cut to the very core of her innermost being.

How can anyone ask her to “be a warrior” and face that?!?
And how can we, in turn, face our own painful fears?
The Bible says that there is a spiritual war taking place all around us and that we are to put on our spiritual armor everyday. But we can face our fears because we know that God is in charge. He is the commander and He is working all things out for His good. “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

This verse is saying the following three truths:

• Bad things happen. They happen to good people and to bad people. They happen to people who love God and people who don’t. People who love God don’t get a pass on bad things happening to them.
• For those who love and trust God, there’s a mystery at work! That mystery is that God starts working EVERYTHING together “all things” for good. He takes our talents, or pain, our fears, or frustrations, our joys, our hopes and our hopelessness. He takes them all and deliberately starts molding them toward a good end.
• When we allow God to take ALL of us – that which is above the surface and below – and surrender it, he uses all of it to achieve His purpose. That is to say He takes our weakness and uses it for His greatness.

Want to be a warrior? Use your talents to help and serve others. Love your friends by helping them carry their burdens. And surrender everything you are and aren’t to God and let him transform all of you into an instrument for good.