Have you ever wondered why God chose to come to this world in such a humble form? Why not come in all of His spectacular glory and rightfully take back the world He had created. Jesus instead invaded this world in the most unassuming way possible. He didn't even choose a form that was attractive to those around Him.
"[Jesus] grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.” (Isaiah 53:2)
So what am I getting out of all this?
Well, I've been thinking lately about disguises. Maybe God was using a disguise for a very purposeful reason. Let me explain...
In our line of work, many of our team members have to enter dangerous war zones to reach the refugees we serve. Sometimes, this requires a disguise to avoid our mission being thwarted or to avert danger to ourselves and others. Being Westerners, we can be immediately identified by our skin and sometimes hair color. There are those in the areas where we work who would see us as a threat to those they wish to oppress. Thus our own lives are in danger, as well as the refugees whom we are helping with aid, medical care, and the good news of the Gospel.
Recently, the Lord led me to take a small team into a very dangerous area to reach a refugee orphanage that had been oppressed by some very evil people. “When they attack near our orphanage, we hide under tarps and don’t eat for many days. The bullets come everywhere!” We needed a lot of protection to avoid running into these hostile people, so we made the journey on foot covered from head to toe to avoid showing our skin color. It's a hot, sweaty, uncomfortable experience.
Hiding ourselves is necessary to avoid evil, but the revealing of ourselves to new groups of children refugees can be such a wonderful experience. “Your skin is white, your hair is light color, you have big bodies, and good teeth. We are not afraid of you and we are happy you come to see us.”
The kids dance, laugh, and come to Jesus in droves when we spend time with them. It is a small piece of heaven and an opportunity for joy in the midst of oppression. It fuels our desire to come again and again, even if we have to endure an uncomfortable disguise to reach them.
Maybe God had to use a similar disguise with our world. Maybe Jesus disguised himself as the true King to avoid those who would try to thwart His mission. Maybe He disguised Himself so He could go directly to those who needed Him the most. When people truly came to know Him, their eyes were opened to see Him for who He really was. When the disguise is off, people experience joy, healing, and freedom.
We have the opportunity to continue revealing Jesus to a hurting and broken world. You can be a part of the great rescue story of refugees in Southeast Asia.
Would you help us go back and reach the oppressed orphanage?
Here's how you can help right now...
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