Imagine this scenario: I am woken up by the sounds of my host family preparing for the day’s activities. Around these parts, we are looking at 5:30 am. Then comes breakfast, along with a brief rundown of the day.
“Our plans have gotten switched up. We are now going to a village to evangelize. Could you have something prepared to preach on?” Yes is always the correct answer to give. After all, that is what we are here for. The typical following questions ask for the length of time, estimated attendance, age range, and things of that sort. Anything to get an idea of what you are stepping into.
“Oh, about 15 minutes. It’ll be a small group. Mostly young kids. You could just tell a story from the Bible.”
So I head off to the village. While the vehicle bumbs and jolts down the road, I find myself scanning over a variety of stories, digging into the recesses of my mind trying to remember the days of Vacation Bible School. I manage to pull something together last minute. I secretly want to be those in a position with schedules and prep time for a sermon.
But all is okay. I’m happy with the plan I’ve made and am confident in it.
We arrive at the village. Stepping out of the car, I struggle to process the scene in front of me. Hundreds of people, all ages, sitting in stadium seating at the local football field, staring directly at us. The local pastor approaches me with a smile and a hearty handshake. “We are so happy to see you. What an honor. We sent word you were coming and all these people showed up desperate to hear the Gospel and the Word of God.”
If my mind really functioned like the movie Inside Out, the whole cast would be staring at him, mouth a-gaped, speechless and dumbfounded.
“Fear” would have fainted.
“Anger” would take all my freshly-made plans and thrown the papers in the air.
“Joy” would be nodding her head rapidly, smiling as she says, “Thank you for having me. We are happy to be here.”
This is the part of the story my favorite character comes into the scene. “Love.”
He has been there the whole time. He sat patiently while everyone else made some make-shift plans. He was the one who bent down to collect the papers “Anger” threw in the air. He even laughed when “Fear” fainted. But now that everyone else is silent, He finally has a chance to speak and be heard. He sweetly smiles at the rest of the cast and says, “Don’t worry. I’ve got this.“
The thing is, He always does. When He takes control, when my thoughts and emotions take a back seat, things happen bigger than myself. When He uses my voice, replacing my words with His, I get to see almost 100 people experience freedom, love, eternal life for the first time.
I used to sit back in the stands. I used to go to church gatherings and listen to a man speak about the power and love of this god. I found myself taking notes but not experiencing any of it for myself. I used to take the back seat (just like the story above), but the difference was, I failed to put “Love” at the control center. As a result, I wasn’t going anywhere. I wasn’t really living. I was watching the people around me live life but failing to myself.
Life is different now. The life I’m living now isn’t contingent upon where I am or what I’m doing. It’s about depending on God to be in control. When He is, He is always pointing out the beauty around us.
He invites us into the vibrant, crazy, beautiful life. He turns my world inside out.
