God's Playground

[RighteousRider]

ALL I ONLY EVER WANTED

There was a very young pastor from Rio, who believed he had a call from God to go to the Amazon in Brazil. The Amazon is full of tribes, some of them very dangerous. The church in Rio was delighted with a young man willing to go to these tribes of the Amazon. They promised him support and everything. So he with his new wife, just got married, went up into the far north to the Amazon jungle.
 

Within a few months the church in Rio had totally forgotten that he existed. There was no more support, and if there was, it came in drips and drabs and dribbles. But also, he was having difficulty with the language, because each tribe had its own language. The natives didn’t want to hear him and couldn’t understand his gospel. His wife was pregnant now. And so, new baby, the tribes were not listening, no support, running out of food, running out of everything. By the time the baby was born, everything was as bleak as it could be.

 

After a trip through the tribes and with no results except closed doors, he came back to his wife and he said, “Pack! We are out of here! We are going back to Rio.” And he said, “I’m done. I’m finished with God. I’m finished with His ministry. I’m out of here!” He said, “As you pack I’ve got to close this. I’ve got to have closure with God, to say I’m finished with Him, I don’t want to hear from Him again, and if this is what He calls love, He can keep it!”

 

He went to a cabin on the edge of the jungle, and he screamed at God for the better part of a day. He cursed at God, and he told God everything he could dredge up, until he was exhausted. He lay on the floor just absolutely exhausted, having told God what he thought of Him. And as he lay there, the cabin was filled with the presence of God. And he heard a voice within him, and it said, “I am so sorry that your work for me has interrupted our friendship. Because all I’ve only ever wanted is your friendship, that you and I be together. And I would ask you to leave your work for me so we can reconnect our friendship.”

 

That knocked him sideways. He’d never, ever thought of that. It was as if he’d rediscovered the gospel. And he went back to his wife, and he said, “Unpack! We’re staying! I’ve got a new…I’ve got to work this out…this new.” And he went back to the tribes, only this time with a totally different approach to the gospel. And they listened. And suddenly money began to come in from not only Rio, but from all over Brazil.

 

The tears were flowing as the young pastor told this story through an interpreter, because he said, ”I never knew this was the gospel. Now I have a gospel. Now I’m living in the friendship of God and PS, I work for Him."

 

(Transcribed from Webinar 379 – Pearl Perception

by Malcolm Smith - on YouTube)

[Rocky]

On 2/27/2024 at 1:21 AM, RighteousRider said:

And as he lay there, the cabin was filled with the presence of God.

A quite vague claim. Before I'd accept this (unverifiable) claim, I'd want more of an explanation/description of what he meant by "the cabin was filled with the presence of God."

[RighteousRider]

I guess he could have said, " I felt like the cabin was filled with the presence of God." Sensing His presence is rather subjective. I'm a desert lover and to me sometimes it feels like laying on a rock in the sun; SUNNY Arizona!

[Rocky]

2 hours ago, RighteousRider said:

I felt like the cabin was filled with the presence of God.

I appreciate the difference of using an I statement. It still doesn't tell me what the author subjectively experienced. 

And, I'm still curious. If you don't know the answer, I'm okay with that.   Still curious, but I know I can only ask for clarification, not demand it. 

[Rocky]

I'm wondering if what you and he might be thinking of is AWE.

Dacher Keltner, an academic, recently published (in 2023) a book on AWE.

 

[RighteousRider]

Awe and wonder seem like synonyms. I prefer wonder, because it triggers a more personal and childlike picture to me. It's also like when I'm driving on a country road, come around a corner and something I see captures me by surprise. When it comes to God and me, I want wonder!