During month one of The Race in our little Bali village, we had the honor and privilege of getting to pour into some incredibly precious groups of children. As I’ve shared in previous blogs, our daily activities with them varied by the minute. This was wildly dependent upon how many little ones we had present, and their attention spans that day. Not to mention that they all spoke a completely different language than all of us. But we were learning together- it was a partnership with them that we all chose into each day.
One of the afternoons, we decided to act out a story from the Book of Life. The plan was to use Google Translate to share the story in both English, and Bahasa, while doing a charades-like scene in front of them as a visual.
“Angelica, you be God! You’ve got a commanding voice and presence!” (Ha! Thanks to my team leader Courtney for giving me these big shoes to fill!)
Now I’ve done a whole lot of acting in my life, and played some pretty epic roles before, but never have I ever been given the role of God Himself! I began acting out the creation story as Hannah and Samantha narrated in both languages. The attention of most of the children was captured in the beginning (pun intended). They sat wide eyed and eager to hear what it was that we were telling them. They were alert and excited for something new. But as the story and our mini charades scene continued to unfold, many of them lost interest. Some got up to go run around or play. Some of the more rebellious babes began to try to distract their friends who were genuinely trying to listen. Some of the children tried to get the attention of our teammates who were listening and setting an example of influence. If I’m being honest, I was a little disheartened as the time went on. I think at one moment, I even sarcastically said aloud with a laugh, “I mean boy, this is really a success.”
There was just a lot going on, so it was a challenge for the kids to focus on the main storyline. Furthermore, it was a challenge for me to stay engaged in sharing it.
This reminded me of how many times I’ve felt this feeling in my walk of faith. There’s so much going on in the world. There’s so many factors and people and hindrances that try to deter my focus from the Main Storyline– to deter my focus off of Jesus. And sometimes it’s hard for me to stay engaged or ignited in continuing to have the desire to share the story too. I didn’t realize what the Lord was going to teach me once that game was over and all the children had gone home. God gave me the most beautifully heartbreaking look at humanity through His eyes, through the voice of the Holy Spirit.
“Angelica, you played the role of God the Father this afternoon. And those little ones that sat in front of you represented all of my children across the world. Many of them are eager to hear and know My voice– to know the language of love that I want to share with them. They want to gain wisdom and knowledge of My teaching and My Word. They sit hungry for Me– wide eyed and excited to know Me more.
But so many of them are distracted.
Even my children that were first hungry have begun to wander away; living wildly, finding joy, and playing with the ways of the world have taken precedence over obedience and holiness. I am thankful because there are some that are firmly planted– rooted in the foundation that is Christ Jesus with their eyes fixed on me. They’re my disciples; yearning to know more of My Character, and yearning for others to know Me deeper too. Yet some of them are not only distracted, but they are the ones doing the distracting of others. My babies… my children both young and old, rich and poor, sinners and saints… I am eager for all of their attention and love. I am eager to know each of them, and for them to each know Me.”
Sheesh!
Talk about a revelation! After these moments of playing God, I was given a look into His heart posture for His children. I realized that His heart yearns for His kids that have never known Him: the distant. I realized His heart breaks for those have wandered away from Him: the distracted. I realized His frustrations from those going against the love He desperately wants to give to everyone: the distractors. I also realized the pride and joy He feels from the ones that are hungry for more of His presence: the disciples. These are the ones that are hanging on every word He says and sharing it with others.
The crazy part is that unlike my own sarcasm or the mentality to want to give up on sharing the story that day, God never gives up on loving us. He sees the distant, the distracted, the distractors, and the disciples, and yet universally keeps chasing after our hearts. He keeps pursuing and speaking when we don’t want to listen. He fights for us. He sent His son to go to a cross and die for us. All out of love. All out of care for His kids. He yearns for our attention– and it’s far past time we start fully giving it to Him. We’re learning together- it’s a partnership with Him that we have to chose into each day.
At the end of our charades game that afternoon, there was one little girl that stood. There was one little girl that raised her hand to re-tell what we had just shared with the rest of the children that were still sitting around her. And she shared it in her own language; using her own words that she’d been given through this new knowledge and wisdom from us. One little girl that had her eyes fixed on the story unfolding, had her heart aligned with the words and actions from the main character, and was ready to stand and share what she’d taken in with anyone who was around to listen.
I pray that I am forever an imitator of that little girl. Eyes fixed on Jesus, and eager to stand and share the story of his life, and what he’s done in mine, to anyone who will listen. Playing God was an honor. Actually living out a life as a servant of His kingdom is even better.
Never stop working on me, God. Keep me hungry. Keep me yearning. Give me eyes to see the world through your lens, and to grow in wisdom and knowledge from that. Give us all eyes to see You clearer.
This is (still) only the beginning.
#wakeupthewonder #leavehope
