The Words God Has Given Me – Cambodia blog entry #17

         See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. (1 John 3:1, English Standard Version)

As you do know, if you have been following this blog, I finally got to visit Angkor Wat temple in Cambodia, back in September. I wondered if it had taken me so long to get there because God really didn’t think it was a good idea for me to be obsessed with this Buddhist temple. I spent a lot of time talking to Him about it and said that if there was a chance to witness for my almighty Triune God, that I would try my best if He would help me out.

It was a Sunday morning when I crossed the moat and the Angor temple materialized out of the cloudy sunrise. 

A guide led us throughout the grounds and the buildings, telling us more than we could ever remember about the place and its history. 

At one point, we came to a long steep staircase. At the top of it, visitors had amazing views of the beautiful surrounding area. I studied those steps and decided that, nope, I wasn’t going to chance it. My back and hip pain was under control, so I did not need to push myself. 

My friend and the two others in our little group plunged up the flight of stairs, while I stayed behind with our tour guide. 

I started talking to this guide, and somewhere in the conversation he told me what he believes – what Buddhists believe – about heaven and hell. That hell is more like jail, where if you haven’t been a horrible person in life, you only go to hell for a couple of years. If you are a mass murderer, you go there forever. If and when you go the other direction, there are seven levels of heaven and you have to be a good enough person and work towards enlightenment to progress to each higher level.

I was like, what? So, I told him something like, “That is too much to think about. I’m a Christian and it’s all pretty simple. I believe in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. As long as you believe that God the Son – Jesus – died for your sins and you ask for forgiveness, you will go to heaven forever. Otherwise, you go to hell. And that’s all there is to it.”

He looked lost in thought for a minute and then went, “hmm.”

It was a while before either of us spoke and then I think it was about these women working so hard to sweep the water into the drain. 

In my head, though, I was apologizing to God. “I’m so sorry I screwed this up. I should have said more or said it differently, sounded more committed to my faith. Please forgive me for letting You down.”

To which God answered me, “You did just fine, My precious child. You told him exactly what you were meant to.”

I blinked back the tears and turned my attention to the others from our group slowly descending the stairs.

         And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:8-9, New Living Translation)