God speaks to me through nature. Since I have known Him, it has always been that way. One of the things that has been really difficult for me to grasp since being here is to look around at all of the BEAUTIFUL scenery and try to understand how all of these people can go on, not knowing who God is.
On Tuesday, we got to pray over one of the shrines, here are some pictures of the nature surrounding this shrine. On the left is on our way to the shrine, on the right is what the shrine overlooks.
To be Thai is to be Buddhist. That is a saying that is pretty common here. I knew that coming into Thailand, but man hearing it and seeing it are two very different things. The worship of idols is so evident here. It is absolutely everywhere: from honking for permission to pass up a hill to flowers adorning the mirrors of busses, or in the spirit houses that stand outside many businesses and homes here in Thailand.
Here is the shrine on the mountain. As we pass by, we will hear honking from various cars, asking the spirits for permission to pass.
My heart breaks for the bar girls, the men walking Bangla, and the people of Phuket. Satan’s hand is at work here. He has the people of Phuket worshipping these idols. Idols who don’t care about the pain they have been through. Idols who are constantly asking for sacrifices. I listened to a sermon the other day about idolatry and the pastor said that believing in idols is like trusting in a savior that can’t save.
Well, I have a God who saves. He is here, and He wants to meet with His children who are lost in their own brokenness and in their empty sacrifices. He desires to take their pain and turn it into joy. He wants to use their stories and their brokenness as a way to glorify Himself. God has SO much in store for the people on Bangla, in Phuket, and throughout Thailand. Their hearts are aching for something; they just don’t know what yet.
As I pray for these people, God continues to bring me back to a passage in Hosea 2:
“Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. There she will sing as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came out of Egypt. ‘In that day,’ declares the Lord, ‘you will call me my master. I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips; no longer will their names be invoked. In that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the creatures that move along the ground. Bow and sword and battle I will abolish from the land so that all may lie down in safety. I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion, I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the Lord.”
Hosea 2:14-20
Thailand is a broken nation, but we have a God who looks down to see their brokenness and desires to restore them. He sees the pain and gently whispers, “I have something SO much better for you.” Our God answers prayers. He hears their cries and He is going to bring healing and restoration to Thailand.
