Isaiah 20

Do you want to serve the Lord?

Are you sure? Think carefully before you answer!

Make sure you noticed this from today’s chapter: “Then the Lord said, ‘Just as my servant Isaiah has gone stripped and barefoot for three years, as a sign and portent against Egypt and Cush, so the king of Assyria will lead away stripped and barefoot the Egyptian captives and Cushite exiles, young and old, with buttocks bared—to Egypt’s shame.’” (vs 3-4)

The modern equivalent of “stripped and barefoot” would be homelessness. Isaiah spent three years in complete poverty and humiliation at the Lord’s request. He was a walking, visual billboard of the coming humiliation of the Egyptians—and a warning for Israel to put their trust in God instead of Egypt!

Would you be willing to be homeless for the Lord for three years? If not, what are you willing to do? What would your “terms and conditions” be? Where would you draw the line? What does it mean to you when you say you want to serve Him?

Now, I’m not saying that if you have decided to serve the Lord, He’s going to ask you to be homeless. But in this case, He certainly asked His servant Isaiah to embrace a time of hardship in order to advance His cause. And Isaiah wasn’t an isolated case. Hosea endured a trying marriage as part of his ministry to Israel (Hos 1-2), and Ezekiel’s wife died as an illustration for the nation (Ez 24:16-24).

Jesus Himself said that God’s servants should not only expect, but embraces!, suffering and hardship: “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matt 5:11-12)

So, how about that hardship that’s recently come your way? How about that crisis you’re dealing with? How about that storm you’re trying to weather? Have you stopped to consider that this calamity will be used by God for good? Have you ever thought that your witness in this situation is an important part of God’s plan for your life and the lives of those around you?

Throughout history, God has called His servants to hardship in many ways and at many times, and I’m convinced that, at times, He still calls us to hardship today. For those who want to live in closer relationship with God, hardship is a given, for God Himself embraces hardship. Thus, getting to know Him better and becoming more like Him must include becoming more acquainted with suffering.

By determining to create intelligent beings with freedom, God has fully embraced hardship. First, He embraced the possibility of it by allowing us the freedom to choose, and second, He embraced the reality of it by taking on the responsibility of dealing with the sin that entered the universe through our choices. God could have easily avoided suffering by not creating us free, but He chose the way of love instead.

God has never run away from suffering, and while following God doesn’t mean running after suffering or seeking it out, it does mean being willing to embrace it when it comes to us. This may not be the easy way, but it is the way of love.