“I’ll give you a winter prediction. It’s gonna be cold, it’s gonna be grey, and it’s gonna last for the rest of your life.” -Meteorologist Phil Connors, Groundhog Day (1993)
“In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.” -Ephesians 4:26-27
Self-centered TV meteorologist Phil Connors and his crew travel to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, for the annual Groundhog Day festivities. After reluctantly filing his report, Phil and his team prepare to leave town. But a blizzard shuts down all travel. The following morning, Phil wakes us to discover that he is reliving February 2nd. Unsuccessfully trying to break the time loop via self-gratifying actions, Phil continues to be roused daily at 6 AM by the strains of “I’ve Got You Babe” by Sonny and Cher playing on his clock radio. It is only when Phil reaches outside himself to befriend and help the townspeople that he can move on to February 3rd.
In Groundhog Day, Phil experienced a repetitive unpleasant situation, persistently perpetuated by his self-serving inward focus. As you reflect on your ministry downsizing or vocation loss, are your associated hurts, humiliation, and pain in any way connected with a stronghold in your life? Are you nurturing sinful feelings that are exacerbating the storms you are enduring? The key to healing, as Stephen Mansfield writes in Healing Your Church Hurt, is- through repentance- to remove the devil’s “landing zone”, thereby loosening his grip. To aspire to a spiritual heritage that is holy and clean, Stephen encourages us to apply these truths:
1. Our sufferings are ordained by and useful in God’s hands.
2. To reclaim God’s higher purpose for our lives, counter the message our hurts send to our souls with the truths of God’s Word.
3. God’s redemption to the heights of our calling is a long, steady ascent.
4. It’s not enough that our mess is cleaned up. The heart condition that led to our mess in the first place must be challenged, healed, and directed onto a Christlike path.
