A Life in Exile

One of the big questions of life is “Why am I here?” or, to put it another way, “What is my purpose?” We’ve all asked this question at some point, but for those of us in Christ Jesus, we know from Scripture that our purpose is to glorify God (Isa. 43:7), to know Him, to love Him (John 17:3; Matt. 22:37-39), to do the good works that He prepared in advance for us (Eph. 2:10), and to make disciples who come to know the same (Matt. 28:18-20).

We have many examples of faithful followers throughout all of Scripture. Though none were perfect, they paved the way for us to see what it looks like to live for God. I’m sure many of us can name modern-day saints who exhibited this same faithful, purpose-filled life. I’m grateful for those I’ve known who’ve modeled love for God and love for their fellow man through acts of service, witness, and integrity.

As if the question of our purpose is not big enough, another question has come to my mind that has sometimes led to a crisis of faith: “What happens if my faithfulness is futile?”

Let me explain

My late husband and I spent twenty years in overseas mission service in the Middle East and North Africa. Every few years, we would return to the United States and speak in local churches, sharing what God was doing in that moment in time. We always had stories of conversions and how God was working in the lives of those we served. There was always some good news, even though we had plenty of struggles as well. Even when we had to leave one country and move to another, we knew that God was still at work in the places we left behind.

Then we were back for good. It’s a long story, but our retirement was near, and we were settling into a new land and life post-overseas service. Still sharing with churches, I realized, as I found myself sharing, that none of the countries where we lived and served were in any better shape than when we first arrived. Even now, over fifteen years later, I look at those countries and wonder if anything we did made a difference. Our work, our faithfulness to the cause of Christ “seemed” futile.

Moses could relate

All this was on my mind as I was studying the book of Deuteronomy. At the end of the book, Moses is offering some final words to the people he led out of Egypt.

So Moses continued to speak these words to all Israel. And he said to them, “I am 120 years old today. I am no longer able to go out and come in. The Lord has said to me, ‘You shall not go over this Jordan.’ The Lord your God himself will go over before you. He will destroy these nations before you, so that you shall dispossess them, and Joshua will go over at your head, as the Lord has spoken. And the Lord will do to them as he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when he destroyed them. And the Lord will give them over to you, and you shall do to them according to the whole commandment that I have commanded you. Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:1-6 ESV)

Moses is old. He knows he’s not going to be able to go into the land with the people, but Joshua will be up to the task. They can trust in him, because God’s in this, and He’s got everything under His control. It’s a great pep talk. He’s been faithful. The people have had enough training in fighting along the way to handle new enemies. God’s not going to leave them.

If it had only ended there.

But it didn’t. After commissioning Joshua and a few more words to the people, the Lord calls Moses and Joshua to the tent of meeting, where He’s going to come down in a cloud and have a heart-to-heart.

And the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers. Then this people will rise and whore after the foreign gods among them in the land that they are entering, and they will forsake me and break my covenant that I have made with them. Then my anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide my face from them, and they will be devoured. And many evils and troubles will come upon them, so that they will say in that day, ‘Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?’ And I will surely hide my face in that day because of all the evil that they have done, because they have turned to other gods. (Deut. 31:16-18)

Great. So basically, the Lord is telling Moses that these people are not going to last long without him. They are destined to turn against God and incur His wrath. Moses must have wondered, “Then why did I go to all that trouble in the wilderness with them, if it wasn’t going to stick?”

What was God’s next request of this faithful, old servant of His?

Write a song.

This had to be the origin of country music. A good, heart-wrenching song to convey your pain and suffering. No, God asked Moses to write down the song He would give him. The people would be required to learn it, so that they could not claim ignorance when troubles came in the future. We all know that songs are a great tool of memorization, and God knew this too. They would learn this song and be reminded of all that God had done for them and their responsibility to keep His covenant.

Moses obeyed to the end

As hard as this must have been, Moses obeyed the Lord and wrote down the words of this song, which is known in our Bibles as the “Song of Moses,” though we know it is really God’s song. How must Moses have felt knowing that the people he’d spent decades serving would reject God and everything he’d taught them? I feel for him. I get it.

Yet, I also know that Moses’s life and work were not in vain. There is nothing futile in all he did. Think about it with me.

• Moses left us with the core of all the biblical record—the Torah.
• He gave us the Law.
• He served as a model of faithfulness.
• He paved the way for the Messiah to come.

These are just a few of the ways we could honor Moses’s life, and no matter what the Israelites did, Moses was faithful in giving glory to God through His obedience to God’s call. Perfect—no. Faithful—yes.

God saves a remnant

A theme throughout Scripture is the remnant that God will maintain and save. He will not forsake His people, Israel, nor does He forsake the nations. Individuals and pockets of believers will remain faithful to God and His Word in every nation, through every hardship, and despite persecution and trials. God’s plan for mankind will not be thwarted, which means our work is not futile.

It wasn’t for Moses, and it wasn’t for my husband and myself. One of my favorite passages is found in Isaiah.

I will put in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive. I will set in the desert the cypress, the plane and the pine together, that they may see and know, may consider and understand together, that the hand of the Lord has done this, the Holy One of Israel has created it. (Isa. 41:19-20)

These trees need water, and yet the Lord puts them in the desert and wilderness. Why? To show the nations that He is God and He will bring fruit and increase in unexpected places. This is all part of the remnant promise. Yes, for me, my place of service looks war-torn and destroyed, but there are still believers in the desert. Faithful Christ-followers living among Muslim populations and looking forward to the day of His return. They are salt and light to new generations of the nations and will bring forth fruit, as the Lord enables.

I may not be able to see it from where I’m sitting, but God’s Word reminds me that it’s true nonetheless. Why? Because I am sure of this: that He who began a good work in me will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ (Phil. 1:6) and He who called me is faithful (1 Thess. 5:24).

Are you struggling to remain faithful in serving God? Turn your concerns over to the One who has called you to glorify Him in all you say and in everything you do. He will bring the fruit.

Grace and Peace

If you missed the last Wednesday Wisdom, click HERE, or check out these posts on remaining faithful: Faithful Saints, What’s Your Ministry?, Perspective, He Sees What We Don’t: A Lesson in Trust, and Count Your Blessings.