Drunken Master is a Kung Fu movie about a man named Frankie who, through some mishaps, becomes a student of Sohi, Master of the Drunken Style of Kung Fu. Sohi’s particular style is odd in that it is made from Sohi being drunk from drinking too much wine. In the movie, Frankie is sent into town to buy more wine so that Sohi can prepare for a fight that he has been challenged to. Frankie ends up spending money on food and is only able to buy two cups of wine. He pours the little bit of wine into a large jug and fills the rest with water. Sohi drinks what he thinks is wine, but very quickly discovers that he does not have the wine he needs to perform his style. Without enough wine in his body, he is powerless to meet the challenge that has been given to him.
First of all, we want to take time to say that we are in no way making light of addiction or the struggles that people have with them. Nothing should be able to have a hold on a person the way addiction to anything does, whether it be alcohol, drugs, food, or anything else. If you struggle with addiction and want help to be free from it, you can get access to resources at the following links: {insert links here}.
Now, bearing that in mind, Sohi’s dependence on wine to perform his Kung Fu style is like Moses seeking God’s presence in Exodus. God is preparing to move the Israelite people out of the place where they are currently camped after they, once again, messed up and deserved God’s wrath. After a discussion where Moses brings up the promise God made to His people, God commands Moses to move them to another location. But Moses doesn’t want to go unless God goes with them. Much like Sohi’s dependence on wine, Moses knows that unless God goes with them, they won’t be able to overcome anything they face in this new place. Exodus 33:15 says, “And he said to him, ‘If your presence does not go with me, do not bring us up from here.’” Moses knew that he was nothing unless God was with him. He was completely dependent on God’s presence to achieve the task he had set before him.
When was the last time we said, “God, if you’re not going with me, I’m not going.”? When was the last time we were so desperate for God’s presence, and so dependent on it, that we felt we could do nothing without it? As followers of Christ, we are supposed to be wholly dependent on God and His Holy Spirit to lead us, guide us, and mold us into what God designed us to be. If we start thinking we can do all this on our own, the we find ourselves much like Sohi—in the middle of a dire situation without the thing we need to get out of it.
One benefit we have that Moses did not is that God’s presence is readily accessible. Because of the saving work that Jesus Christ did on the cross, we no longer have to travel to a physical place to seek the presence of God. All we have to do is cry out, and He is there. For those of us who follow Christ, His presence is no further than a prayer away. The presence that Moses was so desperate for, we have access to 24/7. Does having constant access make us less desperate for God’s presence? It shouldn’t. Just because we can call out to God whenever we want, that does not mean we should take light of His presence in our lives or desire it any less. We should always feel within us a deep-seated need to seek God out and be in His presence—just like Moses sought God, just like Sohi sought wine. Otherwise, we’ll find ourselves powerless to do what we need to do.