Okay, I promise that this will be my last blog posting from the book of 1st Samuel. I can hardly believe that meditations and insights from these Old Testament chapters have been filling the pages of my journal for the past six weeks. In this final post, from 1 Samuel 30: 21 - 25, I would like to say a special thank you to the heroes who stay at home. It was more than twenty years ago that I noticed for the first time how relevant this little incident is to my own experience as an overseas missionary.
If you remember the story (see the three posts on 24th February), David and his men have set out to claim back the things that an enemy had stolen from them. On their way, however (see vs 9 - 10) some of the soldiers acknowledged that they had given all they had to give, and were too exhausted to continue with pursuing the enemy and fighting on the front lines. A decision was made to leave a certain number of men behind with the supplies.
More than 24 hours later, when David and his troops came back victorious from the battle, they were greeted by these faithful warriors who had stayed behind with the stuff. But some of those who had done the fighting on the front lines were not very keen on the idea of sharing their plunder with the ones who had stayed behind. "These guys didn't go out to the battle," they said. "Why should they get a share of the victory spoils?"
David's response to this philosophy was an important principle that became a law in Israel from that day forward: "Don't be like that, " he said. (vs 24) "The share of the people who stayed with the supplies is to be the same as the share of the people who went out to the battle." They may not have been doing the fighting on the front lines, hand to hand with the enemy, but their role was important too. The front line fighters would not have been able to do their part, if these other guys had not done the important job of staying back and watching over the supplies.
Isn't this principle so true of missionary service? Some of us have the challenge and privilege of serving "on the front lines," while other believers stay at home with the supplies. Probably not because they're exhausted, like the soldiers in the story, but simply because they have a different calling. They're called to serve God in business, in education, in politics and in the local church. They serve as housewives, hairdressers, plumbers and electricians. They have their own mission field at home, and they also play a vital role in "guarding the supplies" (prayer, resources, encouragement and finances) for the missionaries who have gone out to serve in the front lines of the battle. And both are heroes! Both roles are important. Those of us serving overseas would find it impossible to do what we do, if it weren't for the vital role of those serving at home.
And so both "share in the plunder." Even though I serve in another country, I can still stand in prayer for people back home and the situations they face in their everyday lives and in extending the kingdom of God right there where they live. So I can rejoice when I hear news of blessing and fruitfulness on the home front. And those who are living back home, instead of of on an overseas mission field - they nonetheless share in the credit, the encouragement and the victory when prayers are answered, when people come to the Lord and when God brings blessing to our missionary involvement overseas.
So today, I want to say a big thank you to those heroes at home, especially the ones who have been an encouragement to me personally, and who have stood with me in prayer and in financial giving during more than three decades of missionary service. You are a hero…. and I pray that God will reward you for all you have invested.
