What would God say to Batman?  With “The Dark Knight” setting movie records and stimulating conversation around the country and the world, I decided to publish this piece I wrote about eight years ago, but updated a few weeks ago. I also drew the picture below for visual “eye candy.” Let me know what you think.
God and The Dark Knight

What Would God Say to Batman?
By: Allen Paul Weaver III

I was there at your birth… Bruce. I watched you grow. I saw your fears as well as your strengths. I knew who your parents would be and gave you Alfred, knowing he would be loyal and supportive of you to the very end.

I was there the night your parents were killed. For years you didn’t understand… I felt your rage as you constantly asked ‘why?’ But it was I who shielded you that night – and every day afterward, knowing that countless others would need who you would become as a result of your dark journey through the shadows of death. I knew the little children who would be abused… I knew the wives who would be beaten by their husbands… I knew the sons and daughters who would be kidnapped. I knew the citizens who would live in fear because of the criminals that roamed the streets and corporate boardrooms.

You have sent many home alive to their loved ones. Your intervention has kept others from pursuing a life of crime. Your presence stands between the innocent and those heinous individuals who do not value human life. You have halted much misery and strife.

Having the freedom of will would mean that some would choose a life of crime… and others would choose to do nothing about it. But you have chosen to use all that’s at your disposal to help bring justice to the innocent, the afflicted, the oppressed, the victimized… all because of the unimaginable pain you experienced as a child, with the death of your parents. Their sacrifice to protect you – and their instilling of values into you – has led to the blessing of others. This was their greatest gift – and because of it, I knew you would not stop in your quest.

Even though you were almost overtaken by fear and hate, you have triumphed on many levels. You have chosen to use the fear and anger… to channel them as your weapons instead of allowing them to destroy you. What the enemy had sent to destroy you – you have turned to your advantage in order to strike terror in the hearts of criminals and deviants whose hearts are so hardened that only extreme measures can break through the barriers of rock and stone.

Although I have not always agreed with your tactics, this we do have in common: to do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice. You show mercy to the offender – mercy he does not deserve - by not killing him when it is in your power to do so. In this act, each is given an opportunity to repent and to change their ways. For I am a merciful God… one who is slow to wrath – who desires that all would come to know Me so that they can complete their destinies. However, those who continually shun Me and do not choose the path of love and justice will one day face My judgment. For nothing done in secret or in the light - in all of creation - escapes My eyes. And on that day, when judgment comes – whether in this world or the next – it will be swift and calculating. For I am holy.

So even as you seek to right wrongs, I still have this one thing against you: You do not rely on me. Having developed yourself beyond where most even dare to venture – you trust in your abilities and resources. While this has served you in the past, I desire to draw you to Myself. Only then can you truly fulfill the totality of your destiny.

I have been quietly supplying you with strength and courage in order to face each battle… in order to have the opportunity for you to know Me as I know you. However strong fear and anger may be, they pale in comparison to the strength of my joy, to the weight of my Presence. Begin to draw from Me the living waters which I speak. Do not place your ultimate trust in your riches nor in your technology. Faith in yourself, can accomplish much. But placing your heart in My hands… truly nothing would be impossible for you. Without Me you could do nothing.

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