Illumination

Wow. God has been giving me so much joy this past week. I'm really tired so I'll summarize briefly:

These last couple of days I discovered that two of of the interns I've been hanging out with are also Christians and have been struggling with finding a church to go to in New Jersey.

I wouldn't have learned that about the first intern if it weren't for what he was wearing that day - a T-shirt that had "'I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ...' - Romans 1:16" printed on it. We talked for a bit about churches here in New Jersey and agreed to church hop together the next Sunday.

The second intern I wouldn't have known either if she didn't mention it herself. We were on a train back to New Jersey after touring Philadelphia for an entire Saturday. She said that she planned on sleeping in the next day, but she felt bad about not going to church yet since summer had started. And that was a perfect opportunity for me to invite her to church hop with us :).

We ended up going to the United Methodist Church down the block, and it just so happened that they held their 18th annual African Thanksgiving Service today. We walked in to the sight of an entire church with the members of African origin dressed in their traditional garbs. Most of the congregation were middle-aged adults, a far cry from the group of young college adolescents and new college graduates that I was used to seeing at church. Worship was amazing even though it was different from what I am used to - they were singing traditional hymns backed by organ and belting out African worship songs. The view of all these people worshiping God in their own way - singing in their own style and language - was just too incredible to behold.

And here we were: an Asian from California, an African-American from Michigan, and a Caucasian from Indiana - three students who were surrounded by an entire congregation of Caucasians, Asians, Indians, and African-Americans spanning all of areas of the world. All of us - varying in ethnicity, young and old, and dressed from jeans and to garbs - were together this Sunday with one purpose: none other than to worship and glorify the Lord. These individual people of different nations, cultures, ages, ethnicities, and denominations assembled together to form the Body of Christ. I'd never seen this before. Even if this sight only lasted for two hours, and even if I was only able to appreciate even a small part of what God wanted to show me, I'm glad God revealed more of His heart to me and how beautiful He has created us to be.

After the service ended, the youth pastor came up and told us that the regular services were not usually like today's. I guess we'll have to check it out again to see what it's usually like!

After today I'm so hopeful despite of the circumstances. Each week I spend without a solid community and accountability group, the more and more I see that I'm being engulfed by a tempest of darkness and doubt. And as I'm being swallowed whole, I realize how I alone cannot keep my heart free from sin. Yet God fights for me when I can't fight it off myself. He gets me through the storm and reminds me of why I follow Jesus. As I find myself straying away from Him, God manages to find me, show me more of Himself, and bring me back.

Even in the wilderness here is still joy to be had, and that joy is found in Him. PTL.