Nations Rage, God Reigns: Missionary Meditations from the Middle East Conflict
A deep rumbling echoes through the air. The sky is overcast today and it sounds like thunder, but I know it isn’t. Its source is more sinister. Though I can’t see them, Iranian missiles and attack drones soar far overhead, threatening destruction. I thank God for His common grace to the country where I live in the Middle East as it launches interceptors to neutralize these powerful weapons. As I begin to breathe out prayers on behalf of my family and church, the ominous rumbling continues.
This international conflict is not the first trial my family has walked through. And as I hear more explosions in the air, I am reminded that such moments of crisis are unsettling and disorienting for all people, including missionaries. When hardships arise, fear can quickly creep into a missionary’s heart. Doubt threatens to overwhelm him with relentless questions. “What have I done? Why did I ever come to this place? What will happen to my family?” Imperceptibly, our vision can become clouded by the “fog of war,” leading us to fixate on self-preservation or to drown in despair.
In moments of crisis, missionaries need the Spirit to blow the wind of His Word in their hearts to clear away that blinding fog. Scripture is sufficient to help missionaries in these afflictions by reminding them of what is true, even as the world around them seems to fall apart.
The Lord Reigns
As we tuck our boys into bed, we recite the familiar words of Psalm 97:1 together. “The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice.” Though short, this verse packs a powerful punch. In one concise sentence, it draws back the curtain on human history to reveal things as they really are. Nature may roar and nations may rage, but the Lord reigns over all.
For a missionary in a storm, this truth is a life raft. God, not chance, controls all that takes place in this world. His control includes “big things” like world leaders, missile strikes, and where I chose to live and minister when a war broke out. He also controls the “little things” of life, like a bedtime routine with small children. Nothing takes place outside His sovereign decree.
God’s sovereignty, then, gives me confidence. Like missionary John Paton, I know I am immortal till my Master’s work with me is done. The Lord reigns and nothing can thwart His purpose for His gospel ministers or bring them harm when He has ordained otherwise. I may remain and serve in this land with confidence because I know my King sways His scepter over the universe.
At the same time, God’s sovereignty leads me to humble submission. Sometimes God’s purpose for His ministers includes pain, hardship, and loss. Storms rise. Waves crash. Rain falls. But only at the bidding of the Lord who reigns. If I suffer as a missionary, I know the trial comes from the same sovereign hands that were once pierced for me. The Lord reigns and this gives me reason to rejoice.
Suffering is Never for Nothing
If God is sovereign and He has ordained suffering in my life, I can be sure, as Elisabeth Elliot thoughtfully expressed, “Suffering is never for nothing.” In other words, God always has a purpose for every trial He sends my way.
How did Elliot come to such a conclusion? Through the gospel itself. On the cross, Jesus Christ endured the worst suffering imaginable. Yet all His affliction was ordained by God for the most glorious purpose in all redemptive history. “It was the will of the Lord to crush Him; He has put Him to grief.” Why? “The Righteous One, My Servant, [will] make many to be accounted righteous, and He shall bear their iniquities” (Isaiah 53:10-11).
Through the gospel, missionaries receive assurance and hope in moments of crisis. When called to walk the path of suffering behind my Savior, I know the path leads to a God-ordained destination. Christ’s sufferings had a purpose, and by God’s grace, so do mine.
Missionary, what might God accomplish through your sufferings? Perhaps this trial will lead to greater gospel advance (Philippians 1:12). Maybe your crisis will enable you to strengthen indigenous believers when they experience suffering themselves (2 Corinthians 1:6). But your affliction may also possess a hidden purpose. It may be that God’s good plan for you in this particular suffering is simply to transform your heart and make you more like Jesus (Romans 8:28-29). Suffering is never for nothing. God has a purpose for us in all that He ordains, even in our darkest hours.
Jesus Gives Sustaining Grace
When the apostle Paul felt the crushing weight of suffering in his own life, he begged the Lord for relief. “A thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me” (2 Corinthians 12:7-8). How did the Lord respond to this missionary’s request for help? He did not remove Paul’s trial; instead, He reminded Paul of the truth. “He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness’” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
Like Paul, missionaries today face severe afflictions. Yet in the midst of these hardships Christ’s promise holds true. When missiles threaten destruction, Jesus’ grace is sufficient. When chronic sickness floods our frame with weakness, divine power offers us solid ground to stand on. When our own strength dries up, the strength of our Savior begins to blossom in our hearts. Yes, the Lord ordains all suffering and pain. Yet He never withholds the grace we need to sustain our hearts as we pass through every single valley.
How do we come to experience this grace in our time of need? One way my family has discovered it is through our local church. We have encountered the Lord’s sustaining grace as we behold our faith community gather for a foretaste of heaven, despite the world’s raging. We have felt Christ’s power as we join our voices together and sing, “Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also, the body they may kill, God’s truth abideth still. His kingdom is forever.” We have received strength in our weakness as we corporately hear God’s Word declared with authority in the midst of earth’s chaos. Jesus loves to extend grace to His afflicted ones through His church. In moments of crisis, the church takes our hand and steadies our walk as we journey on the road to heaven.
Grounded on Something More
Things seem quiet now. The sky’s rumblings have ceased, for the moment anyway. I thank God for the ways He restrains evil and pray He brings a swift end to the conflict in the Middle East. At the same time, I know my hope is grounded on something more solid and glorious than the resolution of this crisis. My hope is fixed on the sovereign God who embraced suffering for me that I might know His salvation. Enlivened by this hope, I know that I too can embrace suffering by His grace, in order to proclaim His gospel for the praise of His glory.