An update from northern Africa by Landry Peterson
So recently, God has been teaching me so much about His glory & it’s just been on my heart to share it with you all!!! He’s revealed to me that there are endless layers to it. He’s been teaching me how to rest in it & how to be still. I’ve learned that He calls us “oaks of righteousness, planted by the Lord so that He may be glorified.” How crazy is it that He chose US to shine His glory through?! But I also discovered that I can often be a glory thief, basking in the affirmation I receive often forgetting that the Lord gave me the gifts that I have in the first place. He’s taught me how to humbly give glory back to Him & how to communicate His glory to others so that they may be in awe of it to. One of the coolest discoveries of all, though, came from the Tower of Babel.
This is a story about humanity forgetting what they were created for & striving for self-glorification. You know the gigantic flood that happened a little bit before this story? You know, the one that wiped out all of humanity because “every intention of man’s heart was evil continually”? Well the flood didn’t necessarily solve that problem. In Genesis 8:21 God promises Noah “I will never again curse the ground because of humanity even though the intention of the human heart is evil from youth.” (Wow God’s grace is so cool,) but also humanity was still very broken.
So when God sees them building this gigantic tower to the heavens “so that they could make a name for themselves” he saw these people with evil hearts forgetting what they were inherently created for (His glorification) & consumed by their pride. SO, He confuses their language & scatters them all over the Earth.
Now this, I realized, is actually a really beautiful thing & was part of God’s greater plan all along because from the scattering came all kinds of different people groups. Now we get to see so many of the diverse & unique attributes of God reflected all across humanity! How beautiful is that?! That picture alone just makes me tear up.
And then Jesus comes along & calls us brothers & sisters. No matter Gentile or Jew, race, background, or gender we are now all part of this big, beautiful family full of beautifully diverse people all reflecting the characteristics of our father because He thoughtfully & mindfully made each one of us in His glorious image.
Because of Jesus we are able to have the relationship with God that He has always longed to have since the garden.
We were once scattered, but now, because of Jesus, we are gathered in the arms of God!!!
Because of Jesus our hearts are redeemed from our evil ways & we now long to glorify Him!
Because of Jesus we can now praise, worship, & glorify God with all of our different brothers & sisters in one big & beautiful multicultural family.
& If that’s not just the most stunning image I don’t know what is.
The World Race has given me an up close & personal view of this picture. There is just something so magical about meeting people from all over the world who love Jesus & love praising Him. There is just something so special looking around the room & seeing so many nationalities represented & so many languages singing His praises.
I’ve already began feeling the affects of creating such deep relationships with fellow believers & then leaving them shortly after. Leaving North Africa here in the next two weeks is not going to be easy. I’ve fallen in love with the women in this beautiful congregation, but I can rejoice in knowing that one day I will see them again & it’ll be the most glorious day. On that day we will be just several in a “great multitude that no one could number from all tribes & peoples & languages, standing before the throne & before the Lamb,” basking in God’s glory & giving it back to Him with shouts of praise. Just as He intended it.
Glory Glory Hallelujah!!!
