With God Daily - When Fear Trumps Calling (Patreon)

Why did God call Israel? What purpose did he give to his covenant people? In Genesis, the Lord told Abraham that all nations would be blessed through his descendants (Genesis 22:18). In Exodus, the Lord said Israel would be a “royal priesthood” (Exodus 19:6). In other words, the nation would serve as a representative and mediator between God and the world. Through Israel, all other nations would come to know who God truly is.

Later through the prophets, God said Israel was to serve as a light to the nations and that people would come to her seeking healing from the Lord (Zechariah 8:23). And even the Temple in Jerusalem was to be a house of prayer for both Israelites and foreigners (Isaiah 56:7). Dozens of Old Testament texts repeat this same message—Israel exists to reveal God’s glory, power, love, and healing to the nations.

That is what makes the king of Israel’s response to Naaman so tragic. Here was a foreigner, having heard about the power of Israel’s God, genuinely and humbly seeking his healing. What’s more, he carried a letter from the king of Syria also seeking the aid of Israel’s God. This was a slam dunk! This was a golden opportunity served on a silver platter for the king of Israel to fulfill his nation’s God-given calling. But the king didn’t see it that way. Instead, he viewed Naaman as a threat and the king’s letter as a trick. Fear trumped calling.

A few months ago, I traveled with a group to the border between the U.S. and Mexico to learn more about the migrant crisis and speak to government officials and church leaders on both sides. The trip was heartbreaking and everyone agreed the only real solution had to come from Washington. Until then, thousands of legal asylum-seekers must rely on the kindness of volunteers for food, water, and shelter—precisely the kind of love Jesus commanded his followers to display (see Matthew 25:31-46).

We spoke with one American pastor who helps organize these efforts in his city. Thankfully, many Christians have joined him, but he also said a surprising number of churches that helped in years past are now refusing. “Helping immigrants is now seen as political,” he said, “and some churches are scared to get involved.” Holding back tears, the pastor explained that he wasn’t advocating for any policy or telling Christians how to vote. He was simply inviting them to provide meals and blankets to children.

When we become afraid, we will quickly exchange our God-given calling to bless others for a self-centered calling to protect ourselves. But like ancient Israel, the church has not been given a mission of self-preservation but one of divine revelation. The defense and growth of the church is in God’s hands, not ours. Instead, we are called to open our hands as Jesus did and reveal the love of God by caring for the sinner, the stranger, the widow, and the orphan.

WEEKLY PRAYER

Ambrose of Milan (340 - 397)

Preserve your work, Lord. Guard the gift you have given even to those who pull back.
For I knew I was not worthy to be called your servant, but by your grace I am what I am.
And grant that I may know how with genuine affection to mourn with those who sin. Grant that as often as I learn of the sin of anyone who has fallen, I may suffer with them, and not scold them in my pride, but mourn and weep with them, so that in weeping over another I may also mourn for myself.
Amen.

DAILY SCRIPTURE

Zechariah 8:20-23

2 Kings 5:1-27