Behold

A while ago I wrote a blogpost about what it's like to be a missionary in a place where violence, corruption, and extreme poverty converge.  I tried to describe the constant heaviness that missionaries feel in dealing with all of that on a daily basis while trying to decide who to help, how to help, how long to help, how much to help...I'm going to copy part of the last paragraph here as context to the rest of this post. 

"It used to be that when I pondered the bigness of God I thought about creation…how He holds the whole universe in His hand and keeps it running. That's a pretty big Person, but I can almost wrap my head around that.  What I can't fathom these days is Someone SO big that He can hold all the hurts and all the trauma of everyone in the whole world.  Lately I see one pitiful street dog and am completely undone.  It's a rough place to be in since they're everywhere around here.  I saw one the other day while I was driving--the same day I met baby Kevin--and I got mad. The combination of emaciated, dying child and emaciated, dying dog on the same day just pushed me over the edge. I yelled at God in the car, “How am I supposed to carry all of this?  It’s too heavy!”  And He said, “I never asked you to.”   I have been thinking about that for a couple weeks now.  It rings in my head.  “I don’t have to carry this.  He’s not asking me to.”  But I’m not sure how to put it down. 

That post was hard for me to write so afterwards I went for a drive to clear my head.  Would you believe that I saw a dog get hit in front of me TWICE before I even made it out of the city?  Needless to say, the drive was not cathartic.  I was already feeling pretty fragile, and seeing the dog get killed was the straw that broke the camel's back.  I was angry...angry at the way animals are treated in this country...at the stupid driver in front of me who saw the dog and didn't even bother to slow down...at the whole world in general because we're just awful and do such rotten things to each other...at God because...wait, what?  

When I realized that I was angry at God, I decided to talk to Him about it.  "God, I think I'm mad at You.   I know You're perfectly just, and I have no right to be.  I don't want to be...but I am.  This world is just so AWFUL!  How long are You going to let this go on before You come back?  How can You stand it? Mom always says "this too shall pass,"  but I think she was wrong on this one.  This isn't passing; in fact, it's getting worse! The murders, kidnappings, rapes...the corruption, the poverty, the injustice...it just keeps coming and coming and coming.   It's endless, and it's in my face every single day.   It is definitely NOT 'passing.'"  It took me a while to finish my rant. I'm surprised that God did not interrupt me with lightning or fireballs from heaven.  I did eventually run out of steam and just sat there brooding quietly. 

The Bible says that one of the Holy Spirit's jobs is to bring the truth of Scripture to mind when we need to hear it.  That afternoon I really needed to hear it.   This is the scripture He brought to my mind: "The world IS passing away.  Behold, I am making all things new."  I knew the first sentence was I John 2:17 and the second part was from Revelation somewhere, but I was unsure exactly which chapter so I looked it up.  It's Revelation 21.  Here it is in context:  "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain:  for the former things are passed away.  And He who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new."   It was an eye-opening moment for me.  

Behold... LOOK UP...pay attention!  It is used 1298 times in the Bible.  I'm not sure how many of those times it is used in the imperative form--as a command--but I did read all the verses in the New Testament where Jesus himself used the word as a command.  These are some of the things we are told to behold.  They are comforting to me.  Maybe they will be to you too.  Behold:

We are not alone. 

"Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us." 

We are being cared for.  

"Behold the fowls of the air:  for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much better than they?"

Our enemy is fierce, but our Commander in Chief has our back.  

"And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:  but I have prayed for you, that your faith fail not."  

This is not the end.  

"Behold, I am making all things new."

He's coming for us.  

"Behold, I come quickly."