God is big
It was a typical start to an atypically sunny morning at the Seward Seaman's Mission. Fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies multiplying at a rate of 12 minutes per batch? Check. Coffee pots humming? Check. The cash register rattled as groups of two or three eager faces popped through the door and asked to buy WiFi or phone cards. As I loaded the dishwasher, two guys and a girl entered. It was their first time at the mission, they said. WiFi passwords in hand, they were soon sucked into the worn blue couch and chairs near the kitchen. Despite the tell-tale double-chins of the-phone's-down-in-my-lap mode, I dutifully stopped by the preoccupied group and yawned, "Anybody want some coffee?" No takers. But the bashful girl sitting on the chair nearest me shyly beamed, "Oh, thank you. Maybe later!" I asked what her name was. "Pika," she replied.
"Well, it's nice to meet you," I smiled back. "Let me know if you need anything."
I took two steps away before my morning-hating neurons finally connected: Pika. And then I almost--almost--half-pirouetted and landed on top of the table. "Pika?! You're the girl! Pikachu!"
I had heard that name only the night before, chatting with a former professor several states away who had happened to leave me a voicemail on a Saturday afternoon. And who I happened to actually call back a few hours later (yeah...cleaning out my voicemail box isn't always my forte). In our discussion of Alaska life and seaman mission adventures, he mentioned that he and his family had vacationed on The Oosterdam, a Holland-American line cruise ship, only a month before. Who would've thought that that very ship was the one scheduled to come into port in Seward the very next day? Or that in all the ramblings of our conversation he would choose to mention meeting a particularly friendly staff member named Pika? I didn't. Honestly, my memory barely registered the dining room assistant from Indonesia that his little daughter nicknamed "Pikachu." I thought, hey, that's a nice little story. There are like 900 staff members on one of those ships, and we have a different ship come into port here almost every day. It was like one of the seafarers asking me, "Oh, you're from Minnesota in the U.S.? Do you know Ashley?"
Yet here in the mission, for the first time ever, on the second-to-last Seward stop of the season, was Pika. She was just as excited as I was about our mutual friends, and it gave us a connection we never would have had otherwise. I gave her a little space and I did some praying. "God, you obviously worked this one out. I have a feeling you want me to talk to her about You."
I went back and threw out some more conversation bait. Soon she was showing me on the big wall map where she was from, and then telling me what religion she was. "I'm Muslim," she said. I inwardly sighed--that usually meant brain-stretching discussions. "But I'm not a very good Muslim," she added. "We have to do a lot of prayers every day...and I don't always do them." Ah--some uncommon humility.
I carefully prodded, "So do you think you will go to Heaven one day?" She laughed nervously. "Ah, probably not."
Hm. "Pika, have you ever heard of Jesus Christ? What do you know about him?"
"Well, he's a prophet. I don't know a lot."
I had recently been doing some reading on the Q'uran. "Did you know that your Q'uran actually tells you to honor other holy scriptures, such as the Torah? The Old and the New Testament writings talk about Jesus Christ as not only a prophet, but as God himself. Can I just show you some verses about Him? I think you'd be surprised what they say."
She agreed to sit down with me at a table. Little did she know she was about to hear the best story ever. It started with the dark side, about how mankind has violated the laws set forth by God. It doesn't matter how small the infraction--even one lie or hateful thought--because the point is that the law has been broken. God is infinitely holy and requires perfection. God is just, and the punishment must be fulfilled. We owe God a debt (Romans 3:23). We must have a way to stand before our Creator and pay for our "dosa" (Indonesian for "sin"). It will cost us our life.
But then God stepped in. In love, he "sent His Son" to bear all of his holy wrath against sin (John 3:16, Romans 5:8). Jesus "tasted death" for us--sinful, unworthy us (Hebrews 2:9). Past sin, present sin, and future sin was all paid in full. There is nothing left to pay, only a beautiful, freely-offered gift of eternal life and a restored relationship with God.
Many Muslims, like most world religions, have the idea that when they die, they will stand before Allah to be judged. If their good outweighs their bad on the scales, then they can have eternal life in heaven. But there is no assurance of Allah's forgiveness in this life. That is because there is no secure payment for "dosa" in that system. So in the here and now, just try, try, try. Don't eat anything that isn't halal, pray every day, and compare yourself to the next guy to see how you're doing.
But anyone who is honest knows we "fall short" (Romans 6:23). Compared to a righteous God, we are literally drowning in a sea of sin. We need a life preserver, an outstretched arm.
How radical, then, is God's gift of eternal life, bought and paid for by the blood of Christ. It's offered on the terms of grace, unmerited favor, alone (Ephesians 2:8-9). It must just be accepted in faith (which requires humility). We must realize we are helpless to save ourselves and then accept the "life preserver." After reading many verses in English and then Indonesian, a flicker of understanding started lighting up Pika's face.
"Pika, if you got in an accident on the ship tomorrow and died, where would you go? When we started this conversation, you weren't sure."
"Why, I would go to Heaven!"
"How do you know that?"
She started snickering like I had asked a ridiculous question and pointed to the cross on the diagram I had drawn. "Because it's a gift! Jesus paid for it!" She tapped her chest, "Jesus paid for all my sins." She laughed out loud and put a hand on my shoulder. "Wow, this is very good news. Thank you so much." Seeing her joy-filled face was an indescribable gift.
Soon after, she had to leave the mission to go back to the ship. Her work hadn't changed. The trials of being gone at sea for 6 to 8 months at a time hadn't changed. But her eternal destiny had. Regardless of how much she fully understands it, she is a child of God, forever in His care (John 1:12, 5:24, 10:28).
For me, this was the second "random" occurrence in less than 24 hours where God used seemingly insignificant details (ice cream cravings and voicemails) to bring the right people along at the right time to hear His message of salvation. It made me remember that maybe the little things that happen in our lives are not so random after all. We have a God who "works all things according to the counsel of his will" (Eph. 1:11). This means that everything, even the seemingly terrible things in our lives, is serving a greater purpose. You hit all the red lights on your way to work this morning? God had a reason for it. That uber annoying group partner you got randomly assigned to? God has a reason for it. That ruined relationship in your life? God is trying to teach you something in it that in the end will glorify Him and be best for you spiritually. God is able to work things out in ways we can't even imagine. We just have to be willing to walk by faith and trust that one day we will see why things are the way they are--even if that's not until eternity. God is big.
"Well, it's nice to meet you," I smiled back. "Let me know if you need anything."
I took two steps away before my morning-hating neurons finally connected: Pika. And then I almost--almost--half-pirouetted and landed on top of the table. "Pika?! You're the girl! Pikachu!"
I had heard that name only the night before, chatting with a former professor several states away who had happened to leave me a voicemail on a Saturday afternoon. And who I happened to actually call back a few hours later (yeah...cleaning out my voicemail box isn't always my forte). In our discussion of Alaska life and seaman mission adventures, he mentioned that he and his family had vacationed on The Oosterdam, a Holland-American line cruise ship, only a month before. Who would've thought that that very ship was the one scheduled to come into port in Seward the very next day? Or that in all the ramblings of our conversation he would choose to mention meeting a particularly friendly staff member named Pika? I didn't. Honestly, my memory barely registered the dining room assistant from Indonesia that his little daughter nicknamed "Pikachu." I thought, hey, that's a nice little story. There are like 900 staff members on one of those ships, and we have a different ship come into port here almost every day. It was like one of the seafarers asking me, "Oh, you're from Minnesota in the U.S.? Do you know Ashley?"
Yet here in the mission, for the first time ever, on the second-to-last Seward stop of the season, was Pika. She was just as excited as I was about our mutual friends, and it gave us a connection we never would have had otherwise. I gave her a little space and I did some praying. "God, you obviously worked this one out. I have a feeling you want me to talk to her about You."
I went back and threw out some more conversation bait. Soon she was showing me on the big wall map where she was from, and then telling me what religion she was. "I'm Muslim," she said. I inwardly sighed--that usually meant brain-stretching discussions. "But I'm not a very good Muslim," she added. "We have to do a lot of prayers every day...and I don't always do them." Ah--some uncommon humility.
I carefully prodded, "So do you think you will go to Heaven one day?" She laughed nervously. "Ah, probably not."
Hm. "Pika, have you ever heard of Jesus Christ? What do you know about him?"
"Well, he's a prophet. I don't know a lot."
I had recently been doing some reading on the Q'uran. "Did you know that your Q'uran actually tells you to honor other holy scriptures, such as the Torah? The Old and the New Testament writings talk about Jesus Christ as not only a prophet, but as God himself. Can I just show you some verses about Him? I think you'd be surprised what they say."
She agreed to sit down with me at a table. Little did she know she was about to hear the best story ever. It started with the dark side, about how mankind has violated the laws set forth by God. It doesn't matter how small the infraction--even one lie or hateful thought--because the point is that the law has been broken. God is infinitely holy and requires perfection. God is just, and the punishment must be fulfilled. We owe God a debt (Romans 3:23). We must have a way to stand before our Creator and pay for our "dosa" (Indonesian for "sin"). It will cost us our life.
But then God stepped in. In love, he "sent His Son" to bear all of his holy wrath against sin (John 3:16, Romans 5:8). Jesus "tasted death" for us--sinful, unworthy us (Hebrews 2:9). Past sin, present sin, and future sin was all paid in full. There is nothing left to pay, only a beautiful, freely-offered gift of eternal life and a restored relationship with God.
Many Muslims, like most world religions, have the idea that when they die, they will stand before Allah to be judged. If their good outweighs their bad on the scales, then they can have eternal life in heaven. But there is no assurance of Allah's forgiveness in this life. That is because there is no secure payment for "dosa" in that system. So in the here and now, just try, try, try. Don't eat anything that isn't halal, pray every day, and compare yourself to the next guy to see how you're doing.
But anyone who is honest knows we "fall short" (Romans 6:23). Compared to a righteous God, we are literally drowning in a sea of sin. We need a life preserver, an outstretched arm.
How radical, then, is God's gift of eternal life, bought and paid for by the blood of Christ. It's offered on the terms of grace, unmerited favor, alone (Ephesians 2:8-9). It must just be accepted in faith (which requires humility). We must realize we are helpless to save ourselves and then accept the "life preserver." After reading many verses in English and then Indonesian, a flicker of understanding started lighting up Pika's face.
"Pika, if you got in an accident on the ship tomorrow and died, where would you go? When we started this conversation, you weren't sure."
"Why, I would go to Heaven!"
"How do you know that?"
She started snickering like I had asked a ridiculous question and pointed to the cross on the diagram I had drawn. "Because it's a gift! Jesus paid for it!" She tapped her chest, "Jesus paid for all my sins." She laughed out loud and put a hand on my shoulder. "Wow, this is very good news. Thank you so much." Seeing her joy-filled face was an indescribable gift.
Soon after, she had to leave the mission to go back to the ship. Her work hadn't changed. The trials of being gone at sea for 6 to 8 months at a time hadn't changed. But her eternal destiny had. Regardless of how much she fully understands it, she is a child of God, forever in His care (John 1:12, 5:24, 10:28).
For me, this was the second "random" occurrence in less than 24 hours where God used seemingly insignificant details (ice cream cravings and voicemails) to bring the right people along at the right time to hear His message of salvation. It made me remember that maybe the little things that happen in our lives are not so random after all. We have a God who "works all things according to the counsel of his will" (Eph. 1:11). This means that everything, even the seemingly terrible things in our lives, is serving a greater purpose. You hit all the red lights on your way to work this morning? God had a reason for it. That uber annoying group partner you got randomly assigned to? God has a reason for it. That ruined relationship in your life? God is trying to teach you something in it that in the end will glorify Him and be best for you spiritually. God is able to work things out in ways we can't even imagine. We just have to be willing to walk by faith and trust that one day we will see why things are the way they are--even if that's not until eternity. God is big.
"[God] is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us."
(Ephesians 3:20, ESV)
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