SUFFERING SERVANTS OF THE LORD

 

If you are not devoted to our Lord, do not read any further. It will not make any sense to you. You see, the closer we get to the Lord, the more conscious we become of our sinfulness and the more we accept the need to suffer the Lord’s discipline and to be refined by it:

·       Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from [purposeful] sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. (1 Peter 4:1–2 (ESV)

I hate to suffer, but I know I need it to become more like Jesus (2 Corinthians 4:10-11). The Apostle Paul understood this and that he would have to suffer greatly for the Lord (Acts 9:16). He had suffered to such a great extent, that he even despaired of life:

·       For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. (2 Corinthians 1:8–9)

Paul understood that he would have to die to self-trust so that he could live according to God-trust. Israel’s prophets had to undergo similar refinements. God had informed the Prophet Ezekiel that He would take away his wife, and Ezekiel would not be allowed to even mourn for her:

·       “Son of man, behold, I am about to take the delight of your eyes away from you at a stroke; yet you shall not mourn or weep, nor shall your tears run down. (Ezekiel 24:16)

His example would also serve as a sign of the coming judgment upon the Nation of Judah. God had directed the Prophet Hosea to marry a prostitute so that he could experience some of the grief that God had been experiencing as Israel continued to turn from Him unto their own pleasures:

·       When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the LORD.” (Hosea 1:2)

Gomer remained a prostitute. However, God instructed his tormented prophet to buy her back and to keep her as God intended to do with His unfaithful nation.

The Prophet Isaiah was commanded to go naked and barefoot for three years as a sign to Ethiopia and Egypt of their defeat and humiliation by Assyria:

·       …the LORD spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, “Go, and loose the sackcloth from your waist and take off your sandals from your feet,” and he did so, walking naked and barefoot…so shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptian captives and the Cushite exiles, both the young and the old, naked and barefoot, with buttocks uncovered, the nakedness of Egypt. (Isaiah 20:2, 4)

Understandably, many commentators think that Isaiah was not commanded to go completely naked and not for the entire three years without a break. In any case, God’s prophets had to endure great hardships – the price of becoming a faithful servant. My continuous prayer had been, “Make me more like Jesus,” but I had no idea of the costs but also of the consolations.

Often, serving as God had been a thankless job, as Jesus had reminded the scribes and Pharisees, who were about to put Him to death:

·       “Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.” (Matthew 23:34–35)

As mere humans, the prophets also had their issues with God. His Word and ways often rubbed them as the wrong way. For a while, Elijah’s presence had brought blessing upon a widow of Zeraphath and her son, but her son suddenly died. Elijah, therefore, accused God:

• “O LORD my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by killing her son?” (1 Kings 17:20)

Nevertheless, the Lord healed the son through Elijah. The Prophet Jonah’s issues with God were even more pronounced. He rejected God’s calling to preach to Nineveh and fled. He even preferred death over obedience. Nevertheless, after being swallowed by a great fish, Jonah agreed to preach to Nineveh. However, the very thing that Jonah had feared came to pass. They repented and God relented from His promise to destroy Nineveh.

However, instead of rejoicing with the Lord, Jonah became angry (Jonah 4:1) and wanted to die, but God tried to teach him that he was his own worst enemy:

• “Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” And the LORD said, “Do you do well to be angry?” (Jonah 4:3-4)

God continued to reason with His unreasonable prophet. Did He succeed? The Book leaves us wondering. It seems that all the prophets had argued with God. Habakkuk railed against God’s failure to address Judah’s sins:

·       “LORD, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save? Why do you make me see iniquity, and why do you idly look at wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise.” (Habakkuk 1:2–3)

Even after God revealed His plan to Habakkuk, his displeasure with God only increased:

·       “You [God] who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong, why do you idly look at traitors and remain silent when the wicked [Babylonians] swallows up the man [Judah] more righteous than he? (Habakkuk 1:13)

I ask myself, “Why am I warning against these costs of faithfully serving our Lord?” Here are some reasons:

·       Jesus had warned us to count the costs.

·       Don’t be blindsided by the costs. He must first teach us to trust in Him by first despairing in our own reasoning and inclinations.

·       Beware of having wrong expectations.

·       Our hope is not in this world. Our inheritance and ultimate hope are not to be found here.

·       The Word of God and His calling will not always please us. It will place us at variance to the world and sometimes even to our church.

·       To serve faithfully requires us to place His Word above all else, even when it hurts, even when we fail to understand or like it.

Even though I give you these warnings, I must also add that we are blessed and privileged to serve the Lord. It has become even unthinkable to not serve Him. Without this, life would become hopeless, meaningless, and devoid of His love and protection. Psalmist therefore affirmed:

·       Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. (Psalm 1:1–3)