SAFE COUNTRY

“But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the people of Ashdod heard that the repairs to Jerusalem’s walls had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed, they were very angry. They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it. But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.” Nehemiah 4:7-9

The book of Nehemiah is a beautiful picture of what happens when the people of God get serious about the work of God. It’s a story of the Church (comprised of every true follower of Jesus Christ) fighting hard individually and collectively to let God take ground through them. The walls of Jerusalem were broken down in many areas and God called His people to participate in the hard work of rebuilding them.

They were weak with their walls down, prey to anyone that wanted to take them over. God used one man (Nehemiah) to rally His people to obedience when it looked hopeless and overwhelming. They put their whole hearts into it (Nehemiah 4:6) and the demonic forces got very angry. So angry, in fact, that those dark forces even called a special meeting to plot how to specifically stop what was happening.

So when does Satan really get stirred up? When Christ-followers start obeying the Lord in a way that allows Him to close in their spiritual gaps. Nothing chills Satan to the bone more than Christians who lay down distractions, selfishness, and plain old carnal living to get on mission with God.

How has that been applying to me personally? The Lord has made it clear to me that I should be on mission for Him every day whether it's in my own backyard or in Uganda. And as I've been letting Him do that through me more intentionally lately, I’ve been learning that I have big gaps when it comes to loving people well. My nature is to show love to people up until the point it gets inconvenient, uncomfortable, and costs me something. In the recent past, when pressed with the invitation to go "the extra mile" with people, I usually defaulted to smiling politely, saying “No thanks”, and waving goodbye in my rear-view mirror. Cheerfully defying God's call to feed His sheep (John 21:17). One of God's "frozen-chosen".


For the gaps in me to be closed in, I'm not "trying harder, praying more!". I'm just saying "yes" when His Holy Spirit nudges me (when before I used to fight it and rationalize disobedience). I'm not "working harder" to be a better Christian; He's making me more aware of my gaps and I'm letting Him have more control. For me lately that means driving the extra mile to pick someone up, giving the extra dollar when I want to fearfully clutch it, spending the extra time on the phone with the hurting woman, and engaging with (rather than rushing away from!) my neighbors when we see eachother outside. It taking every opportunity to trade recipes with and pray with the elderly widower three houses down the street. It means I have a reoccuring Friday date to make crafts and read God's Word with the nine year old girl thirty minutes away.

“If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in safe country, how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?” Jeremiah 12:5 

In my weak moments, a selfish part of me cries out “Send me to Africa to love an orphan, Lord!". "Selfish?", you ask. Absolutely. It's easy for me to want to escape the humble and mundane daily calls to obey Him with a fantasy of what I think will be "the real deal". It's unreasonable of course (sin always is!), since living in Uganda will be undoubtedly be a new level of mundane and humble. When my flesh cries out "Oh to just hold an unloved child in Africa!", I should look for an unloved child to hold here. He knows full well that changing my location doesn’t change my heart. If I can't obey Him contentedly here, I'll never be able to when I'm completely uprooted and asked to do it in a foreign culture. It’s like believing the plane trip overseas will have magical powers to transform me.  “Tada! The newly-minted Missionary! Just board the plane and you’ll be ready to serve long-term under extreme pressure.” Wow. Kind of like thinking that the matrimonial aisle magically transforms a couple into totally different people, right?  It's no joke that short-term mission trips and the first few months of mission work are often called the "honeymoon" phase. The bubble quickly pops and the Christ-follower realizes they signed up for more than they realized. The flaws they had in their "Safe country" (Jeremiah 12:5) come out in the "thickets" of their new home.  Anything worthwhile (living on mission wherever you are, strong marriages, wise parenting) takes gut-wrenching preparation prior and continual work during. No magic wands and no short-cuts.

“But He [Jesus] said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.”  2 Corinthians 12:9

Lord, help us to live for You right where you have us. This season of life, this group of people, this task set before us. Oh Lord, all I have is NOW to serve You! Show each of us the “little” ways we can be more faithful right where we are. You say that whoever is trustworthy with a little will be trustworthy with much (Luke 16:10). How we respond to what’s right in front of us will determine how we handle the next assignment You give us. Help us to allow You to send us out into areas that make us feel weak and clumsy. For me, You know that it’s loving outside my comfort zone in the dailyness of life. Show each person who reads this what it looks like for them. Show them their gaps and how You want to fill in and repair them. Guard them right in the middle of the demonic attack that will be lobbed their way as they cooperate with Your Holy Spirit. Give them the eyes to see who that discouragement is coming from and help them to press even harder into Your side. Help us to pray and post guard day and night to meet this threat (Nehemiah 4:9). Help us to watch You heal us and others around us as we allow You to take control. Love others well through us in the safe country and the thickets (Jeremiah 12:5). In Jesus Name, Amen.