“Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” Luke 9:54
A couple of weeks ago we received an opportunity to handle a difficult request for one of our customers. We found the item and had the proposal in the contact’s hands before the other company could blink. Our delivery exceeded their expectations, and our price was spot on. But, because of agendas above our head, the client went another direction. We had the blessing of delivery, the savings, the transparency and the solution to the issue, and it did not seem to matter. We were denied the sale, and I walked away discouraged, asking God to remove the roadblock from our path.
I have left most of these crime scenes deflated and wanting God to eliminate the obstacle immediately. I have prayed for judgment on those inflicting the injustice and for other things I’m not proud to admit. I can talk and understand my position of management on the plantation and exclaim great truths of God owning all of the cattle on 1000 hills, and while I do trust these verities with absolute certainty, acting like I believe them is a completely different story. The litmus test is situations just like this and how quickly I might rejoice if fire actually rained down from heaven.
In the 9th chapter of Luke’s gospel, we see Jesus sending two messengers ahead of His arrival, into a local village requesting food and preparations for the mission. They are not only rejected but denied entry altogether. Frustrated and dispirited, and in a weak moment, the disciples feel Jesus should do something. Instead, Christ turns the other cheek and simply continues the journey without a word. The disciples are left defeated, and then a second later, convicted understanding what was at stake and what type of invitation had just been declined.
The Samaritan village did not just deny the Nazarene and His followers’ entry into their city but also all of the blessings Jesus would usually bestow on one of these visits. Their blind would not receive sight, and their lame would persist in being paralyzed. Their malnourished would go hungry again and their dehydrated would remain parched one more sunbaked afternoon. The town had dismissed the Messiah and His disciples for transients and that lunacy was punishment enough.
It is in this minute of crystal-clear commentary that I too see and understand God’s reason for remaining silent. It is at this juncture that I understand my folly in wanting to retaliate. It is in this second that I feel the necessity to follow the Shepherd’s leading and resume the expedition. It is now that I comprehend the good work my Father has for me to do and grasp the only fire, I should call down from heaven in the one that engulfs the wet, the dry and the all of me in between.
