Disney World: A Holy Week Devotion

The most magical place on earth, right?

I heard a parable this morning from a pastor friend of mine in Phoenix about a time he went to Disney.

Given the time of the year it is, I thought it could not have come at a better time....

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The first thing I do when I arrive through the gates is lose my kid.

Our family had just made it inside, passed the turnstiles, gave our fingerprint (I'm telling you its just another way for Big Brother to keep an eye on us!). My wife, children, and I all pick up maps from the info stand and make our way to through the main street, I feel like a little kid again looking at all the stores and decorations, Cinderella's giant castle protruding in front of us... But what amazes me most is the look in my kids' eyes. This is the first time they have been here. The joy inside of them runs over and splashes into my soul.

Though we've been Southern Californians for the past five years, and just recently moved to Phoenix -- most of my children's lives --Disney is where it all started for our family.

I grew up in Orlando, The City Beautiful... and beautiful it is.
Disneyworld is what draws millions of people to the city annually. (Shout out for Universal, Sea World, and Wet n' Wild too)

But Disney... if we're honest... Disney is the place every kid dreams of, the vacation of choice for families. And of course a place to escape the negative world and believe, if only for a short time, in magic.

Do you believe in magic? In a a young girl's heart?
How the music can free her, whenever it starts
And it's magic, if the music is groovy
It makes you feel happy like an old-time movie
I'll tell you about the magic, and it'll free your soul
But it's like trying to tell a stranger bout rock and roll

It's where I worked as a ticket attendant after high school to save up enough money for my first year of college; it's where I longed to go as a kid; where I took my wife for a date at Epcot's Food and Wine Festival; where almost every other weekend we went as a couple to have some fun and get to know each other on deeper levels, all the way from taking pictures with Mickey and Minnie to having a nice dinner in Downtown Disney.

I huddle on the People Mover ride with my son, 6, and daughter, 8, whispering stories, smiles, and family lore, that get more animated with each turn, as we move through TomorrowLand.

At the station, we get out to start down the steps towards another ride in the area. It's always a rush to get to the next thing, because we have to beat the large line, right? It slowly begins to feel like rush hour traffic with all the people clambering to and fro. The park is packed with people. It's slow going, like wading through molasses. It's tough to stay together in the tangle of bodies in a hurry.I grab my daughter's hand, motion for my wife to get closer and look down for my son... When...

"Joey ..." I'm choking on the word.

He was just here.

I look at my wife, eyes wide... As I look around, wading through the crowd time slows to a surreal crawl. I'm now dragging my daughter as I am backtracking, swinging my head side to side, looking.... EVERYWHERE.

What would you do?

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Many people think of the Bible like this. It's a place, or a thing, a book, that is full of magic. It is full of stories and people and places that help us escape the reality of the world around us.

For Christians, we know this to be a library of books and letters that don't push us to escape this life, but how to make the most and best of it. Jesus said that He came to bring life and life to the full. (John 10:10).

But still... most Christians struggle with understanding the Bible. We think of God as a big, giant, deity, white hair, big beard, sitting in heaven: all powerful, almighty, the judge, the King, the ruler of all. 

We think of Him in terrifying terms.

All these titles and ideas are exactly true, but that isn't all that God is.

I think for most people, we think of God through Greco-Roman eyes moreso than Biblical eyes.

Our picture of God looks a lot more like Zeus or Jupiter than anything else.

This isn't the picture the Bible gives.

The most vivid picture and arguably the way God describes Himself more times than anything is not, Judge, King, or  Lawgiver... but as a Father. A good, perfect, loving Father.

So we come to the Bible in our devotional time, hoping to pull something out, hoping to understand some nugget of truth that we can apply to our life in the here and now. We listen to sermons. We read through explanations. We search the Scriptures. But sometimes... We just don't understand what we are reading. I've been there, I still have those moments... and I'm a pastor.

What is the deal?

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Joey is gone. He is missing.

What would you do?

Immediately looking for a higher place to see the area, I found a bench and stood on it. I wanted to be more visible, in case Joey was looking for me too.
My wife took Sara, our daughter to stand by a light pole and she began looking around just as frantically. I started yelling his name out, moving again with the crowd, jumping on every bench I could... I HAD to find him... and then... 

There he was. 

Standing with Goofy. 

With Goofy.

I have never been more happy to see Goofy in all my life.

My little Joey, in his little green t-shirt and red baseball cap standing with Goofy.

Dodging every other guest, every tourist group, and the picture takers (you know, the ones that stand RIGHT in the middle of the walkway...) and hugged my son.

Thanking Goofy and the employee that was with him I looked down at Joey with tears in my eyes, and we made our way back to the rest of my family.

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Most of the time we are looking through our Bibles for something to latch onto, something to comprehend and apply, we do so with a wrong thought of who our God is. And I honestly believe this small idea that we have allowed ourselves to believe can be the very thing that keeps us from Him. 

God doesn't hide things in the text thinking,
"Well I sure hope she finds that today, if she doesn't her day is going to be ruined."
"Well if he doesn't read the right verse I am going to send a plague on Him!"

If God is a good and perfect Father... he wouldn't hide himself. Just like our friend in the story didn't hide himself when he saw his son, but ran to him... so God does that with us... every day of our lives.

The father in the story didn't hide behind a tree, he didn't go up and leave clues for Joey to come and find him, he hopped from bench to bench, shouting Joey's name, making himself visible, doing anything he could just to find him, and when he saw Joey... He ran to him and hugged him. Tears in His eyes... so happy just to have Him once again. Like the father in the story, where nothing else mattered but finding his son... so God is with us.

He makes himself perfectly visible to His children who are lost, who may be just looking in the wrong direction, who may have lost sight of the goal, who may have gotten distracted by Goofy.

No matter your situation, God makes himself perfectly visible.

This Holy Week we are reminded of the perfect visibility of God.

The almighty, may seem like he is disguised under the disfigurement of an ugly crucifixion and death, make no mistake about it, Christ upon the cross is paradoxically the clearest revelation of who God is: Visible, invincible, and loving. He bore the cross and took death to the tenth round so we would know, there is nothing He wouldn't do to get us back.

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Nathan Bryant

is a pastor living in Phoenix, AZ. As a student at Ozark Christian College in Joplin, Missouri he majored in Biblical Leadership, New Testament Studies, and Missiology. Nathan has a combined passion for unity and discipleship in the global church.

Christ's Kingdom is bigger than our causes.

Christ's Kingdom is bigger than our boundaries.

Follow him on Twitter: Follow @nathanpbryant

Nathan's Website