“So they will know that I am the LORD when I scatter them among the nations and spread them among the countries. But I will spare a few of them from the sword, the famine and the pestilence that they may tell all their abominations among the nations where they go, and may know that I am the LORD."”
Ezekiel 12:15-16 NASB
I know this is directly about the scattering of Israel, about the remnant of God's people and where they will go.
But as I read about the scattering of a people among the nations, with only a few spared from war and hunger and disease, I can't help thinking of all the refugees flooding out of the Middle East right now into so many countries. They are running for their lives from a radical terrorist group. Those who were previously inaccessible to us are now coming to our doors and asking for our help. The very people we would identify as living in 'closed' countries and nearly impossible to reach with the Gospel are now coming, in the face of terrible tragedy and horrific persecution, to us for safety. People with probably no previous exposure to Christians or Christianity are coming to places where Christians are concentrated in the thousands.
Maybe, in spite of the awful circumstances, this has been God's plan all along. Whether He orchestrated it all or allowed things to progress with His sovereign knowledge, thousands upon thousands of people are fleeing their predominantly Muslim countries and coming to historical centers of Christianity. Perhaps this is exactly what God intended, so that they would be exposed to Christianity in a way that would never otherwise be possible.
We could spew hatred and racism, blaming them for the problem, and treating them as the enemy - the very opposite of being Christ-like.
Or we could love them. And serve them. And share the love of Christ with them.
May we not miss the opportunity. May many Muslim people turn and become Jesus' disciples.
May those who have been scattered one day return to their homeland, this time carrying the hope - not of sanctuary in a foreign land - but of the incredible news of the Gospel and the God who saves.
