Bugs, Disneyworld, and Paul's Journey to Rome
We just completed a very long study in the book of Acts. If you are unfamiliar with the end of the book here is a brief synopsis of the last chapters:
Paul is heading back to Jerusalem. The Jews in Jerusalem hate him and wish him harm. He is well aware of the dangers involved in returning to Jerusalem, not to mention the fact that everyone he knows is telling him not to go because of the dangers involved. The Lord tells him that not only will he be a witness in Jerusalem, but he will also witness for the Lord in Rome (19:21 with a reminder in 23:11). The Lord tells him to “take courage” as he gives him the promise that he will testify also in Rome. In Jerusalem, as was expected and even prophesied, he is beaten and arrested. The next few years he has to deal with imprisonment of varying levels of security, all the while standing trial before a few governors and even a king. Instead of wasting more time with trials that are more entertaining than judicial, he appeals to Caesar (a privilege which his Roman citizenship allows him). On his way to Rome he endures a plot by the Jews to kill him, a storm on the high seas which prompts the Roman guards to want to kill the prisoners to save on food, and a shipwreck. He even shakes off a snake bite without any negative affects. The end of the story, as God promised, is Paul’s arrival in Rome.
When we were at Disneyworld in January we went to the Animal Kingdom. One of the greatest attractions there is the Bug’s Life show. It boasts of being a 5D experience. We were ushered into the theater with our 3D glasses and took a seat. The next 8 minutes were a full on assault on the senses - all of them. There was larger than life bugs on the screen zooming past our faces, and as they did we could feel the gush of wind from their wings. We were spayed with bug spray (this was the 5th D). There was even a point in the show when we heard and felt bugs crawling under our butts.
It was amazing!
It was so amazing that about two thirds of the way into the show, just about the time when we were being attacked by grasshoppers who were 5x larger than us, Keegan began to lose it. “I want to leave” began as a whimper. A minute later this kid was on the floor, balled up in the fetal position, crying, and screaming at the top of his lungs, “I WANT TO LEAVE!” (which, of course, I could barely hear amidst the roar of attacking hoard of bugs). My fatherly instinct was to pick him up and put him on my lap while plugging his ears and assuring him (which I had to do before every ride the entire week) that it was not real - that nothing was going to hurt him. My other fatherly instinct was to get out the video camera - this would have been real funny to watch at his graduation party or his wedding rehearsal dinner.
The show ended. No one died. The bug spray had no effect on any of us. The parents thought it was the coolest thing we had ever seen. The kids did NOT want to do that again. Ever. It made every ride from then on a scary experience for them. What is Walt going to throw at us on the next ride? And before every ride we had to reassure them, “it is not real, you will not get hurt, I promise.” For those of us who had been on enough of these rides before to believe the promises our parents told us, the rides were a blast. They were a blast because we knew without exception that these things only have the appearance of being scary or harmful, they will not actually harm us and we therefore have no reason to be afraid.
I think Paul’s experiences on his way to Rome were similar to the Bug’s Life attraction at the Animal Kingdom. He had a promise from his Father that he would end up in Rome. Everything that happened in his life, from the moment of the promise until he arrived on the shores of Italy, told him that he would NOT end up in Rome. Paul had more faith in the promises of his Father than he had in life’s circumstances.
Our lives are no different than Paul’s. We also have received promises from the Lord. We also have circumstances in our lives which could lead us to doubt God’s promises. These things are scary - I don’t think it is a lack of faith on our part to be scared. It is when our fear outweighs our faith that we are in trouble. Keegan's fear was far greater than his belief in my promise to him that the bugs were only fake - this caused panic. It would have led to him to give up if I would have been willing to leave the theater with him.
Every analogy has its fault, and here is the fault in this analogy. Because I know the bugs are fake I enjoy the show. Even though I have more faith in God’s promises than in the hand this world deals me, trials are not fun. I do not make this analogy to understate suffering. Suffering is real and it is scary. I make this analogy to say that when suffering does come, and it will come, we can follow the exhortation of James to consider it joy when we are enduring these trials. We are not entertained by them, but when we endure, or even while we are enduring, we can take refuge in the promises of our Lord, our Rock, our Redeemer.
Paul is heading back to Jerusalem. The Jews in Jerusalem hate him and wish him harm. He is well aware of the dangers involved in returning to Jerusalem, not to mention the fact that everyone he knows is telling him not to go because of the dangers involved. The Lord tells him that not only will he be a witness in Jerusalem, but he will also witness for the Lord in Rome (19:21 with a reminder in 23:11). The Lord tells him to “take courage” as he gives him the promise that he will testify also in Rome. In Jerusalem, as was expected and even prophesied, he is beaten and arrested. The next few years he has to deal with imprisonment of varying levels of security, all the while standing trial before a few governors and even a king. Instead of wasting more time with trials that are more entertaining than judicial, he appeals to Caesar (a privilege which his Roman citizenship allows him). On his way to Rome he endures a plot by the Jews to kill him, a storm on the high seas which prompts the Roman guards to want to kill the prisoners to save on food, and a shipwreck. He even shakes off a snake bite without any negative affects. The end of the story, as God promised, is Paul’s arrival in Rome.
When we were at Disneyworld in January we went to the Animal Kingdom. One of the greatest attractions there is the Bug’s Life show. It boasts of being a 5D experience. We were ushered into the theater with our 3D glasses and took a seat. The next 8 minutes were a full on assault on the senses - all of them. There was larger than life bugs on the screen zooming past our faces, and as they did we could feel the gush of wind from their wings. We were spayed with bug spray (this was the 5th D). There was even a point in the show when we heard and felt bugs crawling under our butts.
It was amazing!
It was so amazing that about two thirds of the way into the show, just about the time when we were being attacked by grasshoppers who were 5x larger than us, Keegan began to lose it. “I want to leave” began as a whimper. A minute later this kid was on the floor, balled up in the fetal position, crying, and screaming at the top of his lungs, “I WANT TO LEAVE!” (which, of course, I could barely hear amidst the roar of attacking hoard of bugs). My fatherly instinct was to pick him up and put him on my lap while plugging his ears and assuring him (which I had to do before every ride the entire week) that it was not real - that nothing was going to hurt him. My other fatherly instinct was to get out the video camera - this would have been real funny to watch at his graduation party or his wedding rehearsal dinner.
The show ended. No one died. The bug spray had no effect on any of us. The parents thought it was the coolest thing we had ever seen. The kids did NOT want to do that again. Ever. It made every ride from then on a scary experience for them. What is Walt going to throw at us on the next ride? And before every ride we had to reassure them, “it is not real, you will not get hurt, I promise.” For those of us who had been on enough of these rides before to believe the promises our parents told us, the rides were a blast. They were a blast because we knew without exception that these things only have the appearance of being scary or harmful, they will not actually harm us and we therefore have no reason to be afraid.
I think Paul’s experiences on his way to Rome were similar to the Bug’s Life attraction at the Animal Kingdom. He had a promise from his Father that he would end up in Rome. Everything that happened in his life, from the moment of the promise until he arrived on the shores of Italy, told him that he would NOT end up in Rome. Paul had more faith in the promises of his Father than he had in life’s circumstances.
Our lives are no different than Paul’s. We also have received promises from the Lord. We also have circumstances in our lives which could lead us to doubt God’s promises. These things are scary - I don’t think it is a lack of faith on our part to be scared. It is when our fear outweighs our faith that we are in trouble. Keegan's fear was far greater than his belief in my promise to him that the bugs were only fake - this caused panic. It would have led to him to give up if I would have been willing to leave the theater with him.
Every analogy has its fault, and here is the fault in this analogy. Because I know the bugs are fake I enjoy the show. Even though I have more faith in God’s promises than in the hand this world deals me, trials are not fun. I do not make this analogy to understate suffering. Suffering is real and it is scary. I make this analogy to say that when suffering does come, and it will come, we can follow the exhortation of James to consider it joy when we are enduring these trials. We are not entertained by them, but when we endure, or even while we are enduring, we can take refuge in the promises of our Lord, our Rock, our Redeemer.
When I was younger and went to Disney, I did the same thing in the Bugs Life 5D. I was so scared! I also loved this whole post Jared. I gained some knowledge, and a brief little lesson : )
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