Tests (Two-Face)

"The Lord tests the righteous..."

In The Dark Knight, Batman is faced with a choice to save his girlfriend or to save Harvey Dent.
He wants to save his crush. He ends up saving Harvey. (Proverbs 19:21)

Yet, Batman isn't the only one faced with a test:

In the process of Batman's choice, Harvey's mind is at work. As a pure, white knight of Gotham, he has legally imprisoned hundreds of criminals. This is something even Batman has failed to do (because the life of a vigilantly is less-than legal). And as this perfect knight, Harvey wishes to continue to do what is right.

He needs to save the love of his life. In order to do this he knows that he must make a self-sacrificing decision. As they are both sitting there, stuck inside of one of the Joker's bad jokes, the punchline is thrown: one of the two of them must die. Harvey, sees his chance. In order to save his love's life, he must drown himself. He tips his chair over and attempts to drown himself in order to safe his girl.

Batman comes in and saves Harvey in the nick of time.

The girl dies.

Harvey has struggled through this test and seems victorious. He remains pure and selfless up until the end. But, the Lord's plan prevailed. For whatever reason, Harvey was meant to live.

Harvey's trial would seem to be over. He can once-again be the holy hero that Gotham needs. But, his test continues. As he lies in the hospital letting his face heal he has a devilish visitor:

In some twisted sort of way, Harvey begins to fail the test. He forgets who he was: a righteous man. He delves into chance. Instead of being able to judge for himself what is right and wrong, by knowing what and who he believes in, he leaves it up to his two-faced coin. To him, even though the world does have a good and evil, light and dark, black and white, he loses faith in any means to interpret which side to choose.

He becomes unrighteous.

And, he seems to think that every one else must play by these knew rules.

He is wrong.

We have been blessed by God. He has given us not only commandments and a book (instruction manual if you will) to live by, he has given His Son (Himself) to prove to us not only that there is a true good in the world (it was made from good not chance), but that He is good. He loves us. And, he would do anything for us. Where Harvey falls, as we all do, Jesus Christ as the only truly righteous man would be able to bring him back up.

Instead, Harvey relies on a coin and chance, his idols, just like us. His scar becomes more than a physical feature. It plagues his soul. With this new thorn in his flesh, he is unable to make any truly clear or righteous decision.

But, his test still isn't over. He still has time for a change. He has time for redemption and knowledge of salvation. He still has time to put his trust and faith in God. And, I'm glad to say that, so do you.

If you are ever unsure or wavering in your faith; if your trust is uncertain and you do not know if God is near; know that you may still pass God's test. There should be no fear. As Christ lives in you through faith, He will succeed where all others fail. Although not everything that you wish for may be granted to you, he consistently proves his love for you by providing for you. He's the one who gives you the clothes on your back, the food in your belly, and the bed to sleep on.

It is alright to test yourselves and to test your faith. Just remember not to test God. Where we are able to measure our weakness and longer for the strength that only God can provide, He will be there as He is with us everywhere. He constantly gives us what is good and what is righteous and it is only through our own illusions and our own misplaced trust (in chaos, coins, or worldly philosophies) that we cannot see it.

This has been part of the Dark Knight Series