I wonder, “Is God Thai?”
No, not seriously. I mean, if you were me and you read that title and thought, “This girl is crazy. She thinks all the portraits of Jesus are wrong and instead of being white with straightened hair, he should have been painted Asian.” But no, that’s not my point.
Back story: When in Thailand, do as the Thai do (but probably not, it’s probably just tourists). Go get an $8 Thai massage! What is that, you say? Well… here’s a run down:
1. They wash your feet.
2. You put on HUGE ugly pants & shirt.
3. You lie down on a mat.
4. A tiny Thai lady comes over and begins the massage- feet, legs, back of legs, hips, arms, hands, head, neck, & back are all massaged.
5. You begin to realize this is not a normal massage (ie. gentle rubs of your back that make you tired). This woman is crazy. She is sitting on your calves & massaging them with her kneecaps! She is pulling your legs in all sorts of directions! She is using her arms & twisting you into a backbend! She contorts your whole body into a swing!
6. You wince, you laugh, you definitely do NOT fall asleep, you wonder how you got into this mess, you are so thankful that your body feels so good.
7. You get a nice cup of tea to finish your experience. If you are me & my friends, you laugh, cause a scene, take pictures with your masseuse, and then finally get up to leave to the relief of everyone else.
So… that was my day today with some of my teammates. Not a ministry day, an off day. And I went into it with a lot of reservation; I won’t even get a normal massage in America. I really expected little, but… I ended up getting a lot.
You see, as soon as the massage began, I started to think, to think about God. And I asked myself, “I wonder if God is Thai?”
Because the God I have gotten to know this year is a lot like my Thai massage.
I came into this year and my encounters with Him with a TON of reservation. I really didn’t expect much, some cool stories and a few good pictures.
But He surprised me… with twists and crazy maneuvers, with unexpected feelings, and with huge flexibility & growth.
I have felt uncomfortable. I have winced. I have been stretched. I have laughed. I have enjoyed the ride. I am so grateful for this experience.
I think this is what most of us experience with God when we truly choose to try. There’s no promise that it’ll be easy. There’s no promise that you’ll always be comfortable. BUT… as long as you don’t walk out in those moments, as long as you see it through, the end result will be phenomenal! You will feel like you can do anything. You will feel like nothing can stop you. You will know that you have already won the race and you get to win it again tomorrow!
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:12-14
