Maintaining A Perspective of Hope; Multi-Generational Sowing

“For here the saying holds true, One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered their labor.”

John 4:37-38

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Inhabitants of the free world stopped and gasped this week, breathing through their social media outlets with a call for prayer.

A shattered republic standing in a pool of blood, blood from centuries of humans battling for the right to rule and the blood of foreign men and women dressed in battle fatigues, fighting for something. Something sometimes defined, sometimes not.

My heart broke for strong, intelligent, steadfast women, children, a generation of young people who had a sip from the cup containing freedom, a generation of men who held onto hope long enough to piece together a now scattered government. My head bowed for men and women who stepped into a battle that was not theirs, to bring a taste of freedom to people they did not know.

It seems dark now. Hope lost, hopeless, dreams shattered.

He often does that to His people, leads them into darkness. It is where we are most apt to look for the light, most capable of discerning His presence. In the blackness of night our eyes search the skies for the pinpricks of light creating an ever present map in the sky. In the darkness of despair, our soul longs for the One who is the light.

It does not escape me that He led the Israelites into a desert for 40 years, or again later, into Babylon for 70 years. He put Joseph in a prison for 13 years, David in a cave, and silenced the mouths of the prophets for 400 years. He left His friend Lazarus in a tomb for four days. He Himself crawled in to stay for three, leaving His disciples in anguish and confusion. What He says about His friend Lazarus gives us insight as to why He often introduces us to darkness.

• “It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it” (John 11:4 ESV).
• “Lazarus has died, and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” (John 11:15 ESV)
• “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” (John 11:41-42)

It goes something like this. It is for the glory of God and His Son, that we may believe in who Jesus Christ is and who sent Him to us. The prophet Ezekiel sums it up in even fewer words as a phrase repeated over sixty times in his book, “And then they will know I am the LORD“.

Purpose in darkness. Darkness is where we lift our eyes and look for the light.

It is easy to pen this in the comfort of my home behind a screen, in a country of abundance and freedoms unimaginable. My children are tucked tight, situated in their schooling and jobs of their choosing. They come and go as they please, choose their dress, beliefs, pastimes and religion from a smorgasbord of options. Social media banter continues, mask or no mask, vaccine or no vaccine, public disagreements from those who live in the lap of luxurious freedoms. This is not lost on me.

But as I watch and read about the Christian church in a foreign land, a church that is thriving in the darkness of secrecy, I can’t help but be reminded that light shines brightest in the darkness. Just as work was being accomplished in the silence of 400 years, there is work being accomplished in the darkness as the Body of Christ moves to its knees to pray over their brothers and sisters in a land far away. Prayers that are heard by a God who does not falter in the darkness.

Shortsighted, believing today is the outcome, the end result. There will be miracle stories that come out of the dark places, stories of hope and resilience. Humans who having tasted freedom, will remember. Seeds of hope have been planted over the last twenty years, pinpricks of light that cannot be put out. Seeds are designed to withstand harsh conditions and then take to growth when conditions improve. Seeds are designed for multiplication. God has not forsaken His bride to a band of marauders.

What do we do as we wait?

We watch and we pray, without ceasing. Our wake up call in the wee hours before dawn is a call to our knees, our hearts beckoned to pray for a people who are breathing in the shadows of pending darkness.

We pray against the enemy, that schemes will be spoiled, plans interrupted, hearts softened in the most unlikely places.

We pray for those huddled in fear that they will be strengthened by the presence of the One who gives life, the One who came for freedom, that they will be sustained spiritually, physically and mentally, that they will know when to fight and when to be still. We pray for a kingdom to advance, a church to grow.

We pray for a sleeping church to awaken. Where have we been for the last 20 years? Where were the social media pleas to pray during this time, while the church in Afghanistan was slowly expanding at a rate to make it the second fastest growing Christian church on the globe? While we rested on the might of a government to sustain advancement that could only be made in a spiritual realm? Did we think the enemy would not notice?

We pray for men and women who left their homes and their families to battle an enemy that was not theirs, to rebuild a country they did not know. We pray they know they plowed fields for seeds of eternal value to shoot, and grow and multiply. We pray these men and women stand in the confidence that there is a God who finishes what He starts. A church has been planted in the blood of men and women who fell in single moments, each holding potential to impact the eternal trajectory for many.

We pray for a global community to stand and advocate for the rights of women, children and the vulnerable. Jesus’s actions and words advocated for women. He spoke to a woman who had five husbands, lovingly allowed a prostitute to wipe His feet with her tears in the presence of religious leaders, interceded for an adulterous woman, healed a woman left unclean by continuous bleeding, taught a woman who had been plagued by demons, and breathed life into a widow’s dead son. These were not highly educated, wealthy, well-positioned women, these were the least of these, the most vulnerable. Is it a surprise that these are the recorded encounters of Jesus? Should not the church be the most ardent advocate for the least of these?

We pray for the enemy. Does not our Jesus come for them as well? Did He not also die for each one? He promises He will not lose one, not one. He came for the sick and the lost, He came to bring life, not death, freedom not tyranny. Can a man’s heart be so dark that the light of Jesus cannot pierce it all the way through? Would it not be something if the miracle stories we hear are of the lost coming under the LORDship of Jesus Christ? The lost knowing the taste of eternal freedom. This is in fact the purpose of all of it, that many would know that He is the LORD. Were we not also once the enemy?

We don’t forget. When the headlines have faded and our attention has moved onto the next crisis, we remember our global brothers and sisters who are suffering unimaginable hardships through war, famine, tyranny, natural disasters. We continue to pray for those who pray and worship in secret, in fear and alone. We continue to pray that many will know that He is the LORD. We continue to pray over those seeds, for each one holds eternal potential.

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Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause
against an ungodly people, 
from the deceitful and unjust man deliver me!
For you are the God in whom I take refuge; 
why have you rejected me?
Why do I go about mourning 
because of the oppression of the enemy?

Send out your light and your truth; 
let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy hill
and to your dwelling!
Then I will go to the alter of God,
to God my exceeding joy,
and I will praise you with the lyre,
O God, my God.

Why are you cast down, O my soul, 
and why are you in turmoil with me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.

Psalm 43 (ESV)

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There are many groups with boots on the ground in countries where being a Christ follower is costly. I encourage you to go to their websites, follow them on social media, support them financially and through prayer. This is the church, this is us.

Voice of the Martyrs

https://www.persecution.com/

Open Doors

https://www.opendoors.org

The Gospel Coalition

https://www.thegospelcoalition.com