Just as the Heavens are Higher
Volodymyr Zelenskyy joined a competitive Ukrainian comedy team at only 17, touring Russia and a number of post-Soviet countries as he performed and secured his role as a nationally known comedian. In 2008, he starred in his first feature film, Love in the Big City, followed by a slew of other popular films: Love in the Big City 2 (2008) and 3 (2014), Office Romance -- Our Time (2011), Rzhevesky Versus Napoleon (2012), 8 First Dates (2012), and others. He even voiced Paddington Bear in the Ukrainian dubbing of the animated comedy Paddington in 2014.
Zelenskyy earned a law degree along the way from the Kryvyi Rih Institute of Economics, but he never practiced law. Why would he when his career as an actor and comedian was wildly successful?
In 2015, Zelenskyy became the star of a comedy series titled Servant of the People. And if his slide into the Ukrainian presidency in 2019 sounds like a made-for-television plotline, that's because it was ... truly. Zelenskyy played the starring role in the Ukrainian TV series Servant of the People from 2015 to 2019: a high school history teacher in his 30s who is unexpectedly elected President of Ukraine when a student posts a video of him ranting against the government, and the video goes viral.
In 2018, Zelenskyy registered a new political party after the name of the TV show, "Servant of the People," and later that year, he announced his candidacy for President of Ukraine, mimicking his role in the television comedy series. Zelenskyy's real-life presidential campaign against an incumbent candidate was almost entirely virtual -- including social media channels, YouTube clips, and frequent comedy routines -- and in 2019, Zelenskyy won the presidency in a landslide vote of nearly 73 percent.
Today Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is playing the role of his life as he defends his country against the invasion of Russian troops under the command of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Zelenskyy has refused to hide from the threats against his life that have loomed large since Russia began its attack just over two weeks ago, and his casual humor in the face of grave danger has captivated the world. In late February, Zelenskyy turned down a U.S. offer to evacuate him from the nation's capital Kyiv, saying, "The fight is here. I need ammunition, not a ride."
The 44-year-old comedian-turned-president is the first Jewish president, making Ukraine the first country other than Israel to have a Jewish head of state. With a number of relatives who were killed in Nazi concentration camps, Zelenskyy embodies a belief in the unseen plans of a God who is far greater than our lists and calendars can define.
Consider these words from Isaiah 55:8-11 --
My plans aren’t your plans,
nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.
Just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways,
and my plans than your plans.
Just as the rain and the snow come down from the sky
and don’t return there without watering the earth,
making it conceive and yield plants
and providing seed to the sower and food to the eater,
so is my word that comes from my mouth;
it does not return to me empty.
Instead, it does what I want,and accomplishes what I intend.
How will you allow the Lord's plans to rise above your own this week, releasing what you expect in order to embrace something Holy Spirit-new?
Peace on your week,
Jennie