So once upon a time I went to Africa. I had just graduated highschool and was going with my Sr High youth group- trusted friends, mentors, pastors. Toward the end of our trip we were going to be staying at a Wildlife Resort and going on a safari. I overheard my friend Brianna making a comment to our youth pastor Brian about (what I thought I heard were) the "mechanical animals" we were going to be seeing. This absolutely made so much sense to me because I had already questioned why our leaders would take us to on a dangerous safari with real live dangerous animals- I mean, we were in AFRICA after all= danger! Once my friends heard that I thought that the animals were going to be mechanical (like robotic, if you don't know what I mean by "mechanical"), the new hobby of this "missions trip" team was to play mind games with me. Who do I trust? One minute, "yes, Tif, the animals are mechanical- you seriously thought we'd take you on a safari with real live lions?" and the next minute "Tiffany, honestly, they are real animals!" You can imagine my utter despair as this goes on for hours...anyway, finally at dinner, I get my friend Christa, who I knew I could trust, to tell me the truth- yes, we were going to see REAL lions, elephants, hippos on this safari.
So, the great justice of this whole ordeal came when we were riding in our completely-exposed-to-the-forces-of-nature-jeeps (weaponless, we later found out) and basically stall out in front of two young male lions who were both attempting to woo a young lioness. While everyone else's hearts were beating out of their chest in fear, I was living in some alternative universe- I literally had no fear. Honestly, there wasn't a concern in my mind about being mauled to death in the African savannah. The reality of the situation just was not real to me at all.
And so, I was reading Revelation 4 this morning describing the throne room of Jehovah God and I was just like- why is this not shaking me to the core? And I realized, its because I have such a dulled sense of reality. I live in an age where special effects and technology have made it possible to have a 3-D Television in my home (if I wanted and could afford it!) and put on a pair of glasses that basically could make a lion jump out of the screen at me. I can see Niagra Falls in the comfort of my own home. I can go down to the Franklin Institute and lay on my back and look at a ceiling and travel through the human body if I really wanted to. And so when I'm truly experiencing Niagra Falls itself, the power of it, the reality of it just isn't what it should be. It should be awe inspiring- and in a sense it is- but ugh, how this technology has dulled me to what it should really produce in me. And that's how I felt when I read Revelation 4- this description- John truly experienced and tried to describe to the best of his ability what He was seeing when he faced the throne room of God. And one day I'm going to experience that. And I want it to stop me right now and make me declare: "Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created."
So, the great justice of this whole ordeal came when we were riding in our completely-exposed-to-the-forces-of-nature-jeeps (weaponless, we later found out) and basically stall out in front of two young male lions who were both attempting to woo a young lioness. While everyone else's hearts were beating out of their chest in fear, I was living in some alternative universe- I literally had no fear. Honestly, there wasn't a concern in my mind about being mauled to death in the African savannah. The reality of the situation just was not real to me at all.
And so, I was reading Revelation 4 this morning describing the throne room of Jehovah God and I was just like- why is this not shaking me to the core? And I realized, its because I have such a dulled sense of reality. I live in an age where special effects and technology have made it possible to have a 3-D Television in my home (if I wanted and could afford it!) and put on a pair of glasses that basically could make a lion jump out of the screen at me. I can see Niagra Falls in the comfort of my own home. I can go down to the Franklin Institute and lay on my back and look at a ceiling and travel through the human body if I really wanted to. And so when I'm truly experiencing Niagra Falls itself, the power of it, the reality of it just isn't what it should be. It should be awe inspiring- and in a sense it is- but ugh, how this technology has dulled me to what it should really produce in me. And that's how I felt when I read Revelation 4- this description- John truly experienced and tried to describe to the best of his ability what He was seeing when he faced the throne room of God. And one day I'm going to experience that. And I want it to stop me right now and make me declare: "Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created."
