I had the privilege to go to Africa a few years ago with some friends to do some youth camps and other ministry projects. I vividly remember so many ways that God changed my heart and mind on that trip. Mission trips are interesting to me because they have so many different effects on us. They grow us, they mature us, they teach us how to be better Christians or Christians at all. They also though, often leave us with unrealistic expectations and realities of the Christian life that are never meant to be seen or followed. It always reminds me of C.S. Lewis who said that we're not supposed to live on the high pitch, or mountain-top experience. We're meant to live in the drab drudgeries of life. Christian community and relationship with God often looks very different than how we see it on a mission trip.
But that topic will have to be shelved for another day as I have a different thought in mind currently. As I travelled in S. Africa a met many people that marked my life forever. One of those people being a little girl who asked a very simple question that made me sad I could not answer affirmatively. She asked me if I'd read the entire Bible. In her childlike simplicity being a Christian and reading the entirety of the Word of God went hand-in-hand. She wasn't being spiteful or pointing out my falsehood, she simply assumed that if I was teaching and representing a God who left us a book to learn about Him and find freedom in Him from, then the assumption is I am utilizing that resource and have actually read it.
It hit me like a ton of bricks. No, I hadn't read the entire Bible. Many parts, many times but not the whole of it. I had read whole books, whole chapters, verses, parts, studied old and new testaments but could not definitively say I'd read every word. So, a while later I committed to reading the entire Bible. I read it like a book because it is a book and that's how I read other books (I'm a logic kind of person). I'm happy to report I just finished. It took me 4.5 years but I can truthfully say I've read the entire Bible, cover to cover. One passage struck me last night as I finished up that I thought tied nicely into the realization that God uses many situations and people to carry out His plan and purpose, just like He did with that little girl years ago.
"And the angel said to me, 'The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire, for God has put into their hearts to carry out His purpose by being of one mind and handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. And the woman that you saw is the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth'" (Revelation 17:15-18).
I will not attempt to unpack this situation or even tell you what's going on. I'm about to start the Revelation commentary by William Barclay so maybe you'll get an ear full sometime soon. For now, as I read this passage it struck me that God can and will use anything to make His plan work. From what I can tell the prostitute is super powerful in this story- she's sitting on top of the waters that represent everything on earth. So collectively the horns, beast and prostitute (and maybe some more, who knows) represent the whole of evil, I'd say. So in my head if they joined forces and worked together they'd be a more powerful force than individually. However, they can't get past themselves- they want all the glory, I suppose- and the horns and beast hate the prostitute and kill her and then somewhere the horns disappear too. Only the beast is left and I'm going to assume that he's become pretty cocky with all the victory he's had over earth and fellow evil. But what he hasn't realized yet is he cut off his nose to spite his face. He crippled himself unnecessarily and all the time he was guided by the purpose of God.
I wonder how we view evil in our world. Do we know that God can "put into their hearts to carry out His purpose"? Do we know He's omniscient and perfect and that nothing is ever put past Him? I often feel puffed up and in control like I can determine my own end and therefore live freely to do the things I desire. But I'm too often like the beast- feeling secure or pretending to be secure in the things of the world that are fleeting and in realities that too often pass away. If I'm going to carry out God's purpose either way, I think I'd like to be fighting on the right side- the side of eternal claim and victory. If I'm going to be a vessel, I'd like to be a full one.
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