Israel: Part 4 - My Takeaways

So now that I’ve been to Israel and back, I’ve had some time to process what it meant to me, any insight I gained, and maybe even a little bit of how it might impact me going forward. 

It was the craziest thing because going into it, I hadn’t really been super excited or had many expectations. Truth be told, I just really prayed that the Iron Dome I had heard so much about was working really well. Regardless, the only thing I had to go on was that every single person I’ve ever met that has been there before says the same thing -  “It’s changed my life.”  And I do mean every single person. I cannot recall otherwise. That’s a pretty strong statement! What does that even mean? (I probably should have pursued that a bit more than I did) I can’t speak for anyone else but myself, of course. 

I loved that we went during the season of Lent. It’s already a time in the church year that we retrace the steps Jesus took in his life here on earth and the sacrifices that he made because he loves us so much. We are already following the eyewitness testimonies of those who actually knew him, saw his miracles, and can attest to the truth of his claims as true God and true Man. We’ve already spent the last few weeks leading up to this trip singing my favorite Lenten songs like “Go to Dark Gethsemane” and “Jesus, I Will Ponder Now” and I’ve contemplated my part in putting Christ on that cross with my own sins. Lent is by its very purpose “going back in time” to focus on what Christ did for us 2,000 years ago: his perfect life, death, and resurrection. His plan of salvation for all people. 

Being in Israel highlighted for me that God Himself came to mankind’s time and place - that which he created. We go back in time every Lent as best we can without a quantum leap but through his Word. Here I am now, 2,000 years later, in the place he lived, died, and rose again - in Israel. God was here in the flesh. 

Side note and fun fact: My first dance with Wayne 27 years ago was to the Joan Osborne song “What if God was One of Us?”.  Not my personal choice to forever remember the first dance with my future husband but that’s what we got. It goes like this:

… If God had a name what would it be?

And would you call it to his face?

If you were faced with Him in all His glory

What would you ask if you had just one question?

… And yeah, yeah, God is great

Yeah, yeah, God is good

Yeah, yeah, yeah-yeah-yeah

… What if God was one of us?

Just a slob like one of us

Just a stranger on the bus

Tryin' to make his way home?

Oddly enough, these song lyrics came up in my brain a couple times during our trip and I couldn’t help but ask myself Did she miss it? Because that’s what God did. He came down here from heaven and lived among mankind for 33 years. There may not have been a bus for him to ride back then but does a donkey count? If she’s looking for a God that can relate to the human experience then Jesus is it! Unfortunately, she’s not the only one across the ages that missed it. People all over Israel and the Middle East have missed it too with consequences that require an Iron Dome but the other side of eternity will be far worse without a Savior. 

Being in the Holy Land was a profound experience. Jesus, God’s own Son, came here. I may not be able to go back in time other than in my mind but coming to the space he inhabited on earth has allowed me to read familiar passages in a new light. I are overwhelmed with a God who would come HERE. I can only say a meager “thank you” to him. Thank you for all of it. Thank you for loving us so much that it motivated you to keep going, to keep putting up with it all, for never stopping because it was the only way to save us from an eternity apart form you. Thank you for the forgiveness, life, and salvation you give us. Thank you.