Window to the 10/40
There’s a window on the top floor of our newly built hotel in Phnom Penh. At first, it doesn't look like much. It just looks like any other window in the hotel. A table propped up against this window is the same height. It’s a sturdy wooden table, strong enough for a person’s weight. If you’re brave enough to climb on top of it and face the window, it looks like you are sitting on the hotel's roof. So, what’s so special about this window? Well, at first, I would have said nothing. I would have said it provided a nice breeze in an otherwise stuffy room. Oh, but it’s so much more than that.
The third afternoon during our training there, I felt the Lord draw me to this window. So, I left the classroom and went to sit on this table (don’t worry, it’s as strong as it looks). And I just sat there, eyes closed, breathing in the afternoon's cool breeze. When I opened my eyes to look out the window, tears began filling them from the revelation of what I saw. God took this plain window in a small hotel to show me the world. Instead of just seeing a small part of Cambodia, I was seeing the entire 10/40 window, and time froze.
I began to truly see the simplicity of it all. To the left was a man eating his lunch alone on his balcony. Below me was a child filled with joy kicking a soccer ball around with his bare feet. To my right was a little girl skating in circles on one roller skate. In the distance, I could see two women walking down the street with coffee in one hand and using their other to converse. Simplicity. Joy.
I could see the stillness for the first time in a long time. I could feel the contentment and joy in the little things. How could I not? I was watching it happen before my own eyes. In this moment, there were no worries. In this moment, nothing else mattered. They were just being. These people were not concerned with being anything or anyone other than who our Creator made them to be. And that broke me. The tears that were once in my eyes now streamed down my face.
These people have yet to learn who they were created to be. I know that they are lost, most completely unreached by the gospel. But this was the first time I saw the entire 10/40 window before me in a single moment. And in that moment, my heart got pierced in a whole new way.
In our Western culture, we have made life complicated. We have put expectations on our lives and in the church that God never asked of us. But it doesn’t have to be complicated. You don’t have to have a specific version of the bible. You don’t have to speak the most eloquently or have a certain amount of money in your bank account. You just have to be. These people understand that and don’t even know who Jesus is. They are living in the simplicity of creation.
Psalm 16:11 says, “You will make known to me the way of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy, and in Your right hand there are pleasures forever.” The fullness of joy is found in God’s presence!
Let’s get back to basics. God’s presence is enough. And when we learn to live in that simple truth, the mundane becomes miraculous. You will begin to see things you’ve only dreamed of. You will go places you never imagined. That place might be a window into the 10/40 window.