(5) I looked, and there was no one helping,
I was was shocked that nobody provided me support,
so my right arm brought me salvation,
and my fury supported me. — Isaiah 63:5
As Jody has mentioned a couple of times, we’re celebrating Consider Christianity Week. Thinking about our faith, why we believe it, and how we would defend it has brought up a number of thoughts. The question came up in one of our discussions: If you were accused of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict? Now that’s an old question, and I don’t even know where it got started, but it’s an interesting one.
But the next obvious question is this: What type of evidence should there be that you are a Christian? Does it make any difference?
You may think that’s a “duh†question. But there are numerous different answers. For some people the evidence would come by your attendance at church and church-related activities. Sometimes these same people would only regard your church attendance as good evidence if you make enough noise or do something other than sit in the pew.
Others think the evidence should be entirely in your behavior. How do you treat your neighbors? If you’re a good person, your church attendance doesn’t matter all that much. You’re loving your neighbors, and that’s evidence enough.
Others might think the evidence was based on how many times you say you’re a Christian. Can someone know you for five minutes without being aware of your faith? Ten minutes? A week? For these people it’s the spoken testimony that makes all the difference.
Yet others might ask, “Evidence? What evidence? I was saved when I prayed the sinners prayer, and nobody heard me other than God. What’s it to you?†For them, you could be a Christian without any evidence at all.
There’s a certain amount of truth in all of these. But our verse today puts a different slant on the whole thing. God is looking for the people who are on his side, and he looks around and nobody is helping him. He is working alone, without support. So he saves on his own. Some people would say “Hallelujah!†God gets the job done in spite of us. And doubtless he does that.
But there’s a tragedy when that happens, and this is it: We miss out on the opportunity to play God! Now resist the temptation to get this irreverent devotional off your screen as quickly as possible. By playing God I don’t mean making God’s decisions or pretending to be someone we’re not. I mean that we play God as the body of Jesus Christ (who was God) in the world. We have the privilege of being part of God’s activity. Surely you don’t want to miss out on that?
So when God looks around your workplace today, will he find someone who is providing support for him, who is ready to help? That’s the one evidence God wants!
