Most days in Israel looked like the following:
Wake up early.
Scarf down breakfast.
Get on the bus.
Hit the first sight.
Hop on the bus.
Next sight.
Repeat until dinner at the hotel.
One of my favorite aspects of the trip was how we experienced the land through each sense.
Looking around and seeing the mountains, hills, and waters.
Smelling the flowers while walking down cobblestone streets.
Tasting the fresh Mediterranean cuisine.
Hearing the sounds of the city and the people speaking Hebrew.
Israel has to be one of the most beautiful countries!
Throughout the trip, some moments hit me differently than others. Some sights had more of a profound impact than others on me. I did my best to document each day and how I felt and what I thought about everything. Maybe I will share them with you. They are quite rough in nature but serve a purpose!
I wrote at one point…
“The people here glow” and “So beautiful.”
Really good stuff.
One of those profound sights that marked me was Mount Carmel where Elijah called down fire from Heaven.
At this point in the Bible story, the people of Israel are torn between devotion to the god, Baal, and devotion to God. Elijah asks them to choose who they will serve because it is not possible to serve both. To enforce the decision, Elijah poses a test where the Israelites call out to their gods and Elijah calls out to the Lord. The God who answers by fire is proved to be God.
And at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.” Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God.”
1 Kings 18:16
I am standing on top of this mountain and it was like being transported in time. I can see myself there in the story.
Imagine watching Elijah call out to God, asking Him to make himself known and God responds. Fire from heaven comes down and burns the offering!
Mount Carmel was breathtaking.
Standing at the top and looking into the vast distance. I thought about how many people were able to see that sign from heaven. You would not be able to miss it! How many people must have caught sight of it and encountered the reality of God?
I love how God answers Elijah at that moment. Still crazy to think how the stories in the Bible are real! FIRE FROM HEAVEN ACTUALLY HAPPENED AND I AM STANDING IN THAT PLACE! WHAT IN THE WORLD?
I think about Elijah’s faith in the Lord to answer him and I think about how God has proved Himself in my own life. I have seen His faithfulness in my story time and time again. What about you? What is your personal Mount Carmel?
Another spot that was significant for me was Magdala.
I will be honest with you, before this trip I had no clue what Magdala was about so I had no expectations here.
We arrive at the ancient Jewish city and hometown of Mary Magdelene just along the Sea of Galilee’s shore.
Something about this place carried such beauty. Not the kind of beauty that boisterously flaunts itself but the quiet kind of beauty that you have to pause and take in. This place was speaking to my soul and I intently listened to every word.
The first thing to notice at Magdala is the first-century synagogue that has been carefully excavated. It is likely that Jesus taught here and you can see the entrance stone where Jesus would have stepped to enter.
At that moment I had to ask myself, am I about to fangirl over a slab of rock? And indeed I did. I mean JESUS STEPPED ON THAT STONE SO OF COURSE I FANGIRLED.
Our team made our way into the Encounter chapel where this huge painting caught my attention. The painting is “Encounter” by artist Daniel Cariola, depicting the miracle where Jesus heals the woman with the issue of blood (Mark 5:24-34). I encountered such a sweet presence of the Lord when I entered this room, greeted by this stunning piece. It was overwhelming! You see, the story of the woman with the issue of blood is incredibly special to me. I remember when I was so sick and I laid in bed all day in pain, feeling so hopeless. I used to cry out to the Lord for my healing. I wished with every fiber of my being that Jesus would descend from heaven and appear in my bedroom just so I could touch Him. I knew if I could touch Him I would be healed.
Now here I was standing before this painting in Israel- healed and made whole.
There we met Father Eamon Kelly which was such a privilege. He spoke briefly and prayed the most simple yet profound prayer. He encouraged us all to think of someone we knew who needed a miracle and we prayed for them. His prayer went something like this…
“For the one who needs healing, Lord heal them.”
“For the one feeling hopeless, Lord encourage them today.”
“For the one depressed, Lord lift them up.”
This prayer gripped me in all of its simplicity.
It felt so holy in that little room. With few words and yet you could sense that he had God’s attention. God is not solely moved by advanced vocabulary and immense speaking volumes. He notices every tear, every quiet utterance when you have no words to pray, each heavy sigh. He is the God who sees.
I sat in the chapel with tears freely flowing down my face.
This world is full of people who do not know God. People who need God to make Himself known in their life, in their circumstances, and their hearts. How can my life be a Mount Carmel to others? I want the world to see the fire of my life and know that God is undeniably real.
This world is full of broken people. Hurting, alone, ill, confused…if only they could touch the hem of Jesus’s garment. How can I offer the hope of Jesus to others?
To be a light and to love. That’s how I want to live my life.
Stay tuned for more posts from Israel…
