What About Bob? Baby Steps To Breakthrough
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Can fear set you free? Our latest Men at the Movies episode unpacks What About Bob? to show how baby steps, community, and divine interruptions turn anxiety into breakthrough. Listen now, download the study guide, and start your own journey from panic to purpose.
The Quotes
Leo doesn’t care about Bob as a person, but only Bob as a problem.
Desperation moves Bob out of isolation and into connection.
We encounter two eternal things every day: the word of God and other people.
I don’t need a minister; I need a friend.
People are transformed by community.
If I offer answers when there have been no questions, I’m doing damage.
God’s interventions are never convenient, because you weren’t on the right path
Themes
The power of community to heal
Contrast of Leo and Bob: They long for connection, but don’t know how to get it.
Leo is calm at the beginning, but is chaos at the end. He thinks he has all the answers. Believes the lie that his clients are so messed up they can’t help him. Bob saves his life, but because he is so rigid in his thinking, he never thanks him. Leo runs from his fears. Leo doesn’t relate, even to those closest to him. His life is a façade, to the point he needs a puppet to talk to his daughter.
Bob is chaotic at the beginning, calm at the end. He is desperate for help. Believes the lie that desperation is working for him, and that the world is a scary place. His fear keeps him from connection. Bob stepping in and engaging with his fears. He relates to people because he has all the fears.
They switch places at the end.
When God gets involved in our lives, it’s never convenient.
Disruptive: We have a plan and his intervention doesn’t fit in it.
Rerouting: We are going the wrong direction and need to get back on the right path.
Examples: Moses, Gideon, Mary.
Resources
“Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.” - Romans 12:15 (ESV)
“You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.” - Matthew 7:16-20 (NLT)
“Twelve months later he was taking a walk on the flat roof of the royal palace in Babylon. As he looked out across the city, he said, ‘Look at this great city of Babylon! By my own mighty power, I have built this beautiful city as my royal residence to display my majestic splendor.’
“While these words were still in his mouth, a voice called down from heaven, ‘O King Nebuchadnezzar, this message is for you! You are no longer ruler of this kingdom. You will be driven from human society. You will live in the fields with the wild animals, and you will eat grass like a cow. Seven periods of time will pass while you live this way, until you learn that the Most High rules over the kingdoms of the world and gives them to anyone he chooses.’
“That same hour the judgment was fulfilled, and Nebuchadnezzar was driven from human society. He ate grass like a cow, and he was drenched with the dew of heaven. He lived this way until his hair was as long as eagles’ feathers and his nails were like birds’ claws.
“After this time had passed, I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven. My sanity returned, and I praised and worshiped the Most High and honored the one who lives forever.
His rule is everlasting,
and his kingdom is eternal.
All the people of the earth
are nothing compared to him.
He does as he pleases
among the angels of heaven
and among the people of the earth.
No one can stop him or say to him,
‘What do you mean by doing these things?’“When my sanity returned to me, so did my honor and glory and kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored as head of my kingdom, with even greater honor than before.
“Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and glorify and honor the King of heaven. All his acts are just and true, and he is able to humble the proud.” - Daniel 4:29-37 (NLT)
“If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.” - Matthew 16:25 (NLT)
Questions
When has your life been characterized by chaos and desperation?
How have you embraced isolation with the belief that it’s working for you?
When have you given great solutions when all the person wanted was a friend? When did that happen to you?
When has God sent an intervention that felt like an interruption? Is this happening right now?
What is the impact of the people in your life?
What is your impact, your fruit, on the people closest to you?
Where can you engage in connection with someone by saying, “Tell me more.”?
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Audio quotes performed by Britt Mooney, Paul McDonald, and Tim Willard, taken from Epic (written by John Eldredge) and Song of Albion (written by Stephen Lawhead).
Southerly Change performed by Zane Dickinson, used under license from Shutterstock.
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