“If someone who is peace-loving lives there, let your greeting of peace remain on that person…Stay in that same house, eating and drinking whatever they offer you…Don’t move around from one house to another.” Lk 10:6-7 GNB
In missions circles we often talk about “finding the man of peace”. More than just a method or target of evangelism, being diligent to seek after those people whom God has been uniquely preparing can be a key to opening up new fruitful fields of ministry. It can mean the difference between laboring for God and co-laboring with Him.
Sometimes these “men” come to us, sometimes we are sent to them. Sometimes we meet them during our normal routines, sometimes we are Spirit-directed to them by a dream or a call in the middle of the night. On our part, we need to be watchful, expectant, and sensitive to realize that God has gone before us to make certain people open receptacles of His saving grace and power. Their salvation often creates a chain-reaction as those in their orbits are impacted by their testimonies.
Peter was praying when he received the same unusual vision three times, prompting him to respond with wonder and faith when soon after an invitation came to visit a Roman centurion a two day, 32-mile, walk north of where he was. Cornelius was a man of peace whom God rewarded by generously pouring out His Spirit upon his entire family, and a household packed with guests. This was a major turning point, paving the way for the gospel to start spreading rapidly among the Gentiles.
Philip heard the Lord tell him to travel from Jerusalem to Gaza, a 50-mile walk. When he got there he spotted a high ranking official from Ethiopia riding in his chariot. He was prompted to run along side of him, only to discover he was reading the most compelling prophetic verses about Jesus’ crucifixion in the whole Old Testament (Is 53). This eunuch was not only baptized that day, God used him as a catalyst to start the first vibrant church movement in Africa (the Coptics), which is still going strong today.
Paul had a vision of a man from Macedonia pleading with him to come and help the people there. Once there, Paul wisely went to a spot outside the city of Philippi, where Jews went to pray on the Sabbath, to see if he could find a “man” of peace there. The “man” turned out to be a woman, Lydia. Act 16:14 says “the Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul”. She was baptized, along with her household, and quite possibly the first church ever on European soil was birthed as a result.
Nobody was better at unearthing these spiritual treasures than Jesus. While we may recall the conversation he had with the Samaritan woman beside a well; we may not remember that he felt compelled by the Spirit to go there that day, and had no interest to accompany the disciples when they went into town to get food after the long journey. His encounter with this “sinful” woman left her flabbergasted, and radically changed. For me, the most exhilarating part of the story is that Jesus visited her village following her transformation to witness and nurture a revival that broke out when she shared the powerful testimony of what Jesus had done for her (Jn 4:39).
Jesus attracted these men and women like bees drawn to sweet nectar. He is still doing it today by His Spirit who lives in us. This same Spirit also goes before us to prepare people’s hearts, as he had done for Cornelius, the eunuch, and Lydia. As Hanani timelessly prophesied nearly three thousand years ago, “the eyes of the Lord run to and from throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him” (2 Chr 16:9). Lord, help us to discover those Your scanning eyes are locked upon. Oh that we might become co-laborers with You, finding the men and women of peace you have prepared for us to meet—people to whom You long to show Yourself strong. Amen.