Israel

So I’ve been really bad at following the specific timeline of the unrest and such in Israel.  Today I stumbled upon a National Geographic special about Christians living in the town of Bethlehem and learned a fact that blew me away.  Before I reveal it, a little background on Israel and how it is inextricably connected to my story of finding Jesus:

When I was a senior in college I was trying to figure out what to do for spring break.  This was the spring of 2000.  I was leaning towards booking a flight to go to Florida with a new boyfriend of mine when my best college friend invited me to join her and members of her family’s church on a trip to Israel.  Florida or Israel?  Honestly the idea of going on an adventure to the Middle East seemed exciting and my best friend was begging me to go.  But I wasn’t all gung ho about it.  I sort of preferred the idea of spring break with my new flame.  Not completely wholeheartedly, I agreed to the Israel trip.  My best friend was ecstatic and told me she would get back to me with the details.  A few days later she called dismayed.  “There’s no more seats on the flight.”, she said.  “Oh well.” I thought.  I wasn’t disappointed.  Florida seemed more appealing anyway.  “The whole group from the church is going to pray that a seat opens up for you.”, she told me.  “Whatever happens happens.” I thought to myself.

A few days later she called back excited.  “You’re coming!  A seat opened up and we booked you on the trip!”  At that point I was actually disappointed.  I had already been envisioning my spring break on the beach.  “Great!” I told her, trying muster up some enthusiasm.

A month later we were on our way to the Holy Land for a ten day, Christian pilgrimage with about 12 other people from the church where my best friend’s Dad was a pastor.  We traveled to see numerous places that have been written about in the bible.  For someone who knew the bible well it must have been a dream come true to see these places come alive.  For me, it was not.  I kept a journal while I was there and wrote about what we did every day.   I complained a lot about how exhausted I was and about how I missed my boyfriend back in the States.  Obviously seeing relevant Christian landmarks is not as earth shattering when you’re not even really a Christian. 

But the truth is I can now see in retrospect how God began to do a work in my heart while we were there.  I think in many ways this was a pivotal launching point for where my journey to find him began in me.  I have no doubt God had been at work before this, but it was there in the land that He loves and has blessed that the part of the journey that involves my own discovery began. 

Here is an excerpt that I have taken from my journal while we were there:

“My feelings on this trip have been very mixed.  I don’t feel entirely connected to this group although everyone is incredibly nice.  Seeing all these things puts me in a constant state of question over my beliefs.  Seeing thousands of people from all over the world praying and connecting to the various sights we see makes me feel even more disconnected.  I believe in God and Jesus and look to them for strength, but have come to the conclusion that I need organized religion only for the traditions I enjoy participating in.   Being around this group all week, who strongly believe in the teachings of the bible and church makes me feel very separated from them.  Although I am grateful to have this amazing opportunity to reflect on my faith, it is tiring me out.  These people are tiring me out.  I want to go home…. I want to go back to my everyday life.  I’m just so tired here.”

Wow!  I see in those words how God was beginning to make His way into my heart.  He was prodding me.  He was making me feel uncomfortable.  He was making me deal with and face big questions about what I believed.  And he did this by using a small group of people from a little church, and a trip to see where His story of love began. 

Giving my heart to Him didn’t happen soon after that.  It would be another 15 months of wrestling with God and trying to fix my life in my own strength before I finally gave my all to Him.   Now how does this apply to what I just watched on National Geographic?  Well as it turns out and what I have been ignorant in knowing up to this point are two things:  First, there had been political unrest and violence in Israel for decades prior to the first part of 2000.  I somewhat knew this.  However, in 2000 there was an unprecedented calm in the unrest.  Because of this, even the Pope paid a visit to Israel in March of 2000, which was exactly when I made my trip there.  Also unbeknownst to me, by September of the same year there was a second uprising and turmoil has continued since then.  The National Geographic episode discussed how many Christian landmarks go unvisited for the most part due to the danger it would pose to visit them. 

Why does this blow me away?  Because I am amazed that I traveled there during the small window of time that it would have been safe to do so.  Because if it had been dangerous as it was before and after, I would have never gone.  Because God knew I needed to go there, and made it so that I could.  Did God calm political unrest in Israel just for me to go there and learn about Him?  Well, I know that He would.  I can’t say that He did that JUST for me, but He might have.  The bible says,

 “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. “  (Luke 15:7 NIV)

I know that it matters to Him what happens to each of us.  I know that He cares and desires to have each of our hearts.  I know that Jesus would have gone to the cross just for me.  But He did it for us all.  So because of this I know that God ordained that I would go to Israel, that I would see and hear, and that eventually I would believe and put my faith in Him.  He also knew that almost 12 years later it would finally occur to me exactly what He had done to make that happen.