There’s a lot of crazy things that happened while I was in the Middle East. When I got this question though, one particularly crazy story came to mind. It’s perhaps not a huge miraculous story, but it is crazy, funny, and scary, so I think it counts. Though I was close to dying, this is also one of the moments I felt closer to God than ever before. Here’s my craziest God story from the Middle East.
A Day With Dad
While in the Middle East, we had this thing called “A Day With Dad”. Dad of course was code for God. We were supposed to take a day with dad each month. On these days we had no work duties and were just supposed to spend time with God. We were instructed to do what helps us connect with God the most. So, about a month after we arrived in our location, I had a day dedicated to connecting with God.
Most of my teammates went to coffee shops, but I don’t like coffee or just hanging out in the city. So, what do you do when you live in the city, and have no car? You walk apparently. Google maps informed me that there was a forest about two miles from our apartment, so off I walked.
God’s Great Mission
A little less than two miles later, I reached the top of a big hill (Dare I call it a mountain?) that overlooked this massive valley. The city sprawled out below, and distant mountains/hills rolled off in the distance. I sat down to soak in the view, and that’s when God’s presence filled me. I was still overcoming the fear of stepping into this crazy life. Even a month in, I felt like I was just getting started, or still gearing up for a long race. I had no idea what my future held there or anywhere.
As I looked out at this valley I didn’t just see the city, I saw the history. I wondered “Did the Israelites walk through here at some point?” I contemplated just how many battles might have happened in that valley, and how many thousands of generations led their sheep to feed there.
My presence here was a small blip of this scenery’s history, yet God was there for all of it. He watched the mountains rise, each spring he watched the grasses grow only to brown in the summer. All through these years God was at work revealing his true nature and showing his love to those who continually rejected him. Now, I got to be a part of his great mission and continue God’s work alongside him. What an honor! Why had he chosen me? What made my terrified self qualified to play a part in the work God had been doing there since the dawn of time?
I honestly thought I’d spend the rest of my day there, but I felt God’s presence leaving. The view lost it’s spectacular glory because God was no longer filling the place I sat at. I told God “How could you ever one-up this moment?” I didn’t want to go because I couldn’t fathom finding a better place to spend my day. But that place quickly became bland and boring without God, so I packed up and moved on.
God’s Concern for the Well-Being of My Heart
I’m from Denver, Colorado, which means I was absurdly spoiled with all the nature. When I moved to the Middle East I knew this meant giving up my wonderful mountains. As I reached the pine forest I left the road and wandered through the trees. To be honest, this forest paled in comparison to those I experienced in Colorado. Yes, I had trees, but the ground was dry and dusty.
A little bit later I discovered a ranch with horses and green grass. The wind blew the fresh scent of horses over me, which is a smell I enjoy. It reminded me of home.
God’s presence rushed in. Suddenly the whole scene felt so peaceful and serene. It felt as if God gave me this place and this moment to remind me of home. He also showed me that he wanted to give me what he knew would bring rest to my soul.
I sat there for two hours reading Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. I also took a nap. Then, after my soul felt refreshed, God’s presence moved on once more. Again I wondered how another place could possibly be better, but I knew God had just proved me wrong the last time I said that, so I reluctantly packed up my stuff and walked on.
God’s Humor
I walked alongside the ranch and along a small trail that led alongside a fence. As I walked, a wolf started walking beside me on the other side of the chain-linked fence. Yes, I did say a wolf! I could tell from the size, the teeth, and the way it looked at me that this was no regular domesticated dog. Fighting a wolf definitely wasn’t on my agenda when I woke up that morning and set out. Praying that the fence wouldn’t end abruptly and put me face to face with this wolf, I continued on.
I reached a dirt road where the fence turned away from me to box the wolf in. Praise God. Across the dirt road I noticed some monkeys behind another chain-linked fence. But it didn’t stop there. Seconds later I heard a lion, and then saw a tiger pace in another cage.
“Okay, so I’m in a zoo,” I thought, but then I noticed the complete lack of people. No one. I even shouted out a hello, hoping to find some zoo-keeper. Still no one.
I walked between the cages finding bears, hyenas, another cage with a half-dozen lions, yet not one person. The question “Where in the world am I?” never left my mind. I mean, how exactly does someone just accidentally find themselves in a zoo with absolutely no one around? Especially a zoo with so many big predators! What if I decided to grab some wire cutters and let the lions, tigers, hyenas, bears, and wolves out? And who in the world keeps all of these animals behind chain-linked fences? I’m no Zoo Keeper, but there’s gotta be some sort of standard saying a chain-linked fence is not adequate to cage a massive male lion.
After my initial shock and confusion left, I couldn’t help but laugh and laugh. How could I not? I just walked into the most bizarre place imaginable. So, what does one do when he finds himself in a zoo by himself? Well, in my case, I plopped down by the monkeys and began reading the story of Noah to commemorate this Noah’s ark reunion party. All the while I continued laughing. God showed me in this moment that he has a sense of humor and knows exactly what makes my heart laugh.
About an hour later, I again felt God’s move on. Now this time I was certain there couldn’t possibly be anything better. Still, God proved himself twice before, so I listened.
God’s Desire to Lead Me into Adventure
I walked a good two more miles following a road back into the city. The sun had already set. My plan was to walk back home, so I followed Google maps and took a shortcut off the main road and into this small neighborhood. A dog started barking at me furiously from the front steps of a house. It was a little too dark to make out the exact type of dog, but it looked like a german shepherd. I kept my distance and walked past. The dog followed. How convenient that he had no chain?
He stayed a good seventy feet behind me, but every now and then I’d hear him charge me. I don’t know why this didn’t freak me out. Perhaps the worship music playing in my headphones calmed me or God’s presence continued to grant me peace and confidence. I knew that if I died I’d just see God face to face sooner, so I wasn’t concerned. Even so, whenever the dog charged me, I had to turn and stare it down to make it stop. Either way, eventually I’d walk far enough away that it would lose interest and go back home.
Wrong.
As I crested the small hill, I noticed on the other side that a twelve-foot-high wall separated me from the road Google Maps told me this road connected to. There weren’t any other roads to take. I could either go back the way I came by passing the dog that still followed me with his aggressive howling, or trespass into the olive grove on my right.
Well, I certainly wasn’t going to let that dog taste a nice gamey Philip drumstick, so I chose to trespass. I pulled my hood over my head just in case and followed the massive wall through the olive grove. Not long later an eight-foot-tall chain-linked fence connected to the wall. With the help of the fence, and a duck of my head to avoid the security camera, I climbed over the wall and dropped to the other side. I felt like a spy, which for several years had been my dream job.
End of story right? Wrong again.
I found myself on a crumbling road with two-foot-high grasses popping up between the cracks. Across the road loomed another twelve-foot-high wall separating me from the real road. I found a thick tree that fell parallel to the wall. Standing on the log, I guessed about a seventy-five-percent chance that I could jump and grab hold of the ledge. If I didn’t grab it, I’d fall and possibly twist my ankle. I contemplated what I should do for a few minutes. Some moments I felt confident I could do it. With worship music still playing in my ear, I decided to play it safe.
Twenty yards down the road I found a guard post. It was a doorway through the wall that led to a small telephone-booth-like room, with barred windows so a guard could survey the other side without creating an entry point for someone to break through. In this little room, I glanced back at where I was planning to jump off the log and climb up on the wall. Right on the other side, lay a highly-secured checkpoint with multiple armed guards.
If I tried climbing over that wall, those guards would’ve seen me. You can’t look much more sketchy than crouching on a wall at night with a backpack and your hood drawn. I couldn’t imagine trying to explain my way out of that situation with my one-month-of-Arabic-school vocabulary.
I thanked God and hastily walked away from the armed guards. A good ways down the road I came to a thick iron gate with a lock. To the side, another tree leaned over the wall. So, I climbed the tree, dropped onto the wall, and then lowered myself to the other side. I made sure no one had just seen my stunt and hurried down the road. I kept looking for warning signs that someone was on to me until fifteen minutes later when I finally caught a taxi and zipped out of there.
As I told this story to my friends the next day, we found this spot on my Google Maps app. We discovered that this check point was the first line of defense for the Royal Palace. Whoops!
Fortunately, God saved my life by keeping me from jumping up on that wall. But I personally think he placed the dog there and herded me down that street so I could experience an exciting adventure. This moment taught me that God wants me to have an adventurous life and that by following him he will lead me on the best adventures I could ever imagine. So far this have proven true.
Why Do I Share this Crazy God Story?
This first day with dad really stuck with me because it showed me just how capable God is at providing for all of my needs. Even though I gave up living in Denver with all my friends and family, I kept the most important and valuable thing in my life: God. It didn’t matter what I had to give up, as long as I had him, I knew I’d be good, because only he could truly take care of me.
I hope this post encourages you to trust God. He truly is a good God and he desires the best for you. Test him on this, follow him with whatever he’s calling you to do and see if he comes through or not.
If you need some more encouragement to live this wild life with Christ, check out my post Take Off Your Leash and Live Wild
If you want to hear more about my time in the Middle East, check out my last post where I answer the question What Was Your Ministry Like in the Middle East?
