African church. Let me set the scene. A small building, dark and dusty, pews crowded to the edge, Holy Spirit filled. When going to the local village church, it’s been hard to understand what’s being taught with the language barrier, but from the first moment I entered this church something came much more apparent to me: Our God is bigger than we could ever comprehend, yet still has the most intentional heart.
To put this in perspective, look at Psalm 139:
“God, investigate my life;
get all the facts firsthand.
I’m an open book to you;
even from a distance, you know what I’m thinking.
You know when I leave and when I get back;
I’m never out of your sight.
You know everything I’m going to say
before I start the first sentence.
I look behind me and you’re there,
then up ahead and you’re there, too —
your reassuring presence, coming and going.
Is there anyplace I can go to avoid your Spirit?
to be out of your sight?
If I climb to the sky, you’re there!
If I go underground, you’re there!
If I flew on morning’s wings
to the far western horizon,
You’d find me in a minute —
you’re already there waiting!
Then I said to myself, “Oh, he even sees me in the dark!
At night I’m immersed in the light!”
It’s a fact: darkness isn’t dark to you;
night and day, darkness and light, they’re all the same to you.
Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
you formed me in my mother’s womb.
I thank you, High God — you’re breathtaking!
Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
I worship in adoration — what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
all the stages of my life were spread out before you, The days of my life all prepared
before I’d even lived one day.”
Looking at this scripture it’s clear just how intentional our Father is! He literally mapped out all our days before we were even born and knows every single detail of our being. When I read this, it allows me to have a better understanding of His love for each of us. He never leaves our side, He’s closer than our breath! But something that blows my mind even more is that He’s not just that intentional with me, but literally every being that walks this Earth. He has the same love for every person and desires the same relationship.
It’s easy to generalize the statement that Jesus loves us all, but it’s another to actually see His love in action, in every nation and every tribe. Going to church, I have no idea what’s being praised or shouted or preached, but He hears and understands. He can speak and understand every single language. He is just as intentional with the Ethiopians in that little village church as He is with me. We serve a BIG God with a BIG heart and no matter how much I try to understand, I’ll never fully comprehend His love for every single one of us.
