As the World Race winds down (for real for real, I land in Seattle in 19 days), I’ve been reflecting on what God has shown me over the last 11 months.
This looks like asking myself and God a lot of questions:
Where has He become more tangible to me? In what ways has He revealed His nature? How have I grown to be more like Him? What are the major themes? What are some key lessons I want to bring back to America? What does this mean for my future plans?
It would be overwhelming to consider all of this once I roll into my hometown, so I’ve been working to gradually process these ideas with God over the last couple of months.
In the processing, God has reminded me that reflection doesn’t mean pausing. It doesn’t mean I get to be excused from the classroom until I’m ready to grow some more. God is still teaching me new things and reinforcing what He’s revealed so far.
Even as my team has settled in Bali for our final month, God has given us a look into the spiritual climate of this island and it’s relevance to us as His children.
Most Balinese people practice Hinduism, and although it looks completely different from the Hinduism we saw in India, it’s familiar in a different way.
When God introduced the Old Testament law to the Israelites, He laid out specific rituals, practices, and processes that were necessary for the compensation of sins. Because the generational curse of sin impacted all of humanity, we were, by nature, separated from God.
His desire all along was simple: God wanted a two-way relationship between Himself and His Creation. In order to remove the distance caused by our transgressions, a sacrifice had to be made. Until Jesus came to be the ultimate sacrifice, dead animals were laid upon altars to make amends for the wrongs of God’s people. This process was very specific and needed to be executed often. Long story short, it was a lot of work trying to get right with God.
The Israelites were constantly working to please God because they couldn’t seem to get their act together. They’d sacrifice and receive mercy only to be running after some shiny object and calling it god moments later.
The rituals, the traditions, and the religion weren’t getting them anywhere. They ran in circles for generations. They needed divine intervention in order to truly live in communion with God forever. Of course, this is why God came to live among us in the form of a man, Jesus, and paid the debt we all owed for our chronic sin.
The law was merely meant to point us back to our need for God all along.
If you knew all of this already, you might be wondering what this has to do with Balinese-Hinduism.
Since arriving on the island, I have witnessed the endless toil that goes in to the offerings placed at every altar, every stoop, every door, every water fountain, and every scooter and car I see. Women wake up before dawn to prepare plated offerings of food and drink to please the gods. After the street dogs or mice snack on them, they replace them at noonday. The cycle continues day and night, every day. Essentially, the goal of this is to be pleasing and acceptable in the eyes of the divine. This is seriously a full-time job. These sacrifices are a means to an end that isn’t really there, though. Just as the Israelites could never truly become one with God through their offerings, our works will never lead us to what our hearts were made for: a relationship with our Creator.
Now, I don’t share this to knock the culture or put others down. I share this because God has shown me how I have done the same exact thing at many points in my life.
How many times have I thought I would be happy if I just lost those last ten pounds? How often have I worked to feel like I am worthy in the eyes of people? How many tears have I cried when I got rejected for the position I thought would change my whole life?
I, too, have been in the endless hamster wheel of trying to reach nirvana through the works of my hands. Even when I do reach my goals, my soul is never satisfied. I will never be made whole by the idols I’ve held so dear.
They only leave me empty, insecure, and full of fear.
The rigid rules and mindless practices crafted by man will never have the power to give us what we long for. Religion doesn’t work. Only God can do the heavy lifting.
In his letter to the Colossians, Paul encourages a community that was being pressured to fit the religious mold society set out for them. He makes it clear that manmade religious tradition fails to change hearts, and faith in Jesus is the only thing that has the power to transform our reality.
“If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.”
Colossians 2:20-23 ESV
As Paul shared this truth with the Colossians, I also want to share it with the people I meet here in Bali. I want to share it with my peers in the States.
I am praying to see a world that no longer chases after things that don’t satisfy our deepest needs. So much of what we think will fix our lives is nothing but vapor. We can’t take status, money, popularity, appearance, or material things with us when we die.
The Lord is clear about what He requires of us. He wants our hearts, not our abilities.
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”
Deuteronomy 6:5 ESV
Not only does God tell us to love Him with what we possess internally—our heart, soul, and strength—but He is even more straight forward in telling us what He doesn’t want.
“What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats.”
Isaiah 1:11 ESV
“Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause. Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.”
Isaiah 1:16-18 ESV
It’s incredibly freeing to know that God promises to meet our deepest desires when we simply offer our heart to him. The grace of God flips everything the world teaches us upside down.
As I’m in this place of reflection on what the last 11 months have meant for me, I’m filled with gratitude for the freedom I have to simply be loved. Any effort on my part is motivated by my love for God and my desire to serve Him. It’s not because I have to, but because I want to.
The Race has reaffirmed my desire to serve and love Jesus all the days I’m alive. It’s such a gift to know His love. I pray that the people of Bali, or even you as you read this blog, would know His love too.
Love and blessings,
McKenzie
