Buddy Similar to Myself

This week's post is on Friend Like Me from Aladdin! Here's a link to the lyrics if you need one.

If you've heard this song, I can almost guarantee you've wished for a genie lamp. I mean, who doesn't want three wishes to get anything you want? Wouldn't it be great to get that thing you've been waiting for? To be famous? Respected? Adored? To live a life of ease?

Would it?

Here's the deal. We are finite beings. We can't see the future (and let's be honest, we really don't want that). We like to think we know what's best for us, but even the things we have general control over, like our diets, we usually mess up. How royally could we mess up our lives if we had three wishes from a genie?

For the most part, the Genie grants wishes because he has to. He is trapped and forced to do what the person who finds his lamp asks of him. In the end, he needs Aladdin to save him. The tone of this song and some of the conversations later on show a need for validation. You can almost hear the Genie say, "You ain't never had a friend like me... right?"

We may think we want a genie, but what we have is something better. We have a God who is on our side. Unlike us, he does know the future. He knows us better than we know ourselves, including our emotional, physical, and spiritual needs. He has complete control over the outcomes of our lives and everyone else's. And He loves us dearly. In a sense, He's way cooler than having a genie in a bottle. He will give us everything we need for life and godliness (2 Pet. 1:3) and never ruin our lives in the process.

The best Disney can come up with is an insecure genie trapped into granting wishes. Don't spend too much time wishing for that. Instead, remember who is on your team and pour out your heart to Him. Things may not play out exactly as you hope, but I promise they'll be better for you than you could dream. And He doesn't have a three wish limit.