We had just moved to a small town in Kentucky and I was taking my usual after-meal walk around the neighborhood. It was a late fall afternoon with a slight breeze that highlighted an atmosphere of the beauty of the changing color of the leaves. As I turned a corner, I noticed a man in the yard ahead of me. I waved and proceeded on my walk. He stopped what he was doing and came my way to chat. He introduced himself as Rick and also introduced his 84-year old mother, Mildred, who was widowed. They invited me to sit on the porch swing and visit with them awhile. (By the way, I love porch swings!) Little did I know that this would be the beginning of a meaningful relationship? I was getting a glimpse that this was definitely a divine appointment from God and that a change in our lives was about to take place.
I began to visit Mildred every week day. She is not in the best of health having just spent almost a month in the hospital with pneumonia. With various lingering health issues such as COPD, asthma, and being a previous heart attack and breast cancer survivor, she is not able to take good care of herself. She is also on oxygen. I began by doing little things for her like watering her plants, bringing in her mail, taking out the garbage, sweeping her floors, taking her to doctors’ appointments and just spending time with her. Her son lived in another city which prevented him from helping her with these daily tasks.
The Lord was working on my heart to do more for Mildred. We began having worship every morning. She has been a devote Presbyterian her entire life but knew very little about the Bible. Our devotions consisted of prayer, singing hymns (which she loved), and reading out of the books, “Steps to Christ” and “The Desire of Ages” by E. G. White. Eventually I began to share with her the eight laws of health and stressing just how important even small changes in her lifestyle could be for her. I noticed she had a fancy treadmill in her sunroom. After some trial and error, I was able to figure out the settings that worked perfectly for her workout. She couldn’t do much at first – only 3 minutes. But after only a few months she is now able to do up to 20 minutes! She is drinking more water, opening her windows to get fresh air in the house, drinking the smoothies I bring to her, and even trying some vegan food. God is good.
Why am I sharing this with you? I was convicted after reading Ezekiel 22:30 which reads:
“And I sought for a man among them that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.”
The Israelites and their leadership had apostatized in their relationship with God. The Lord was seeking someone to “stand in the gap” so that Jerusalem would not have to be destroyed. But sadly as the verse states – “But I found none.”
I studied in the Bible instances where there were those who stood in the gap for others. Moses is a good example and I am sure there are many others. In Exodus 32, the story of the Golden Calf, the Lord wanted to consume the Israelites for their idol worship. Two times in this chapter Moses pleaded with the Lord to turn from His fierce wrath and relent from harming His people. As a type of Christ, he was asking God to make atonement for their sins. He even stated that if He would not forgive them, to blot him, Moses, out of the book which He had written. So, the Lord relented from harming them because of Moses’ prayer. In Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 319, Ellen White writes:
“As Moses interceded for Israel, his timidity was lost in his deep interest and love for those for whom he had, in the hands of God, been the means of doing so much. The Lord listened to his pleadings, and granted his unselfish prayer. God had proved His servant; He had tested his faithfulness and his love for that erring, ungrateful people, and nobly had Moses endured the trial.”
Again in Numbers 11 when the people complained and it displeased the Lord, His anger was kindled and the Lord sent fire among them to consume the people. Here we find Moses interceding for the Israelites again. He prayed and the fire was quenched. But that wasn’t the end of their complaining. They were tired of manna and wanted meat. The Lord’s anger was again aroused. In verse 11, we find Moses asking God, “Why have you laid this burden of the people on me? Did I conceive all these people?” He is desperate when he says that he is not able to bear all these people alone, because it is too heavy for him. He asks the Lord to kill him here and now. Wow!
In Numbers 12:1 it states, “Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman he had married.” Even Moses’ own brother and sister were speaking evil against him. The Lord’s anger was aroused and He strikes Miriam with leprosy. We again find Moses standing in the gap to plead for her to be healed.
When the spies come back from Canaan (the Promised Land) with a bad report in Numbers 14, all the people, except for Joshua & Caleb, lifted up their voices and cried and wept that night. Repeatedly, we find them again complaining against Moses and Aaron. They stated that it would have been better to have died in Egypt than to die in this wilderness. Moses prayed!!! How many of us would have been willing to continue to stand in the gap for this rebellious and complaining people like Moses did for 40 long years?
For me, “standing in the gap” means supplicating for someone’s salvation. We are all called to a distinct work in God’s vineyard and each has his part to act. In Testimonies, vol. 4, p. 53, it states,
“To save souls should be the life work of everyone who professes Christ. We are debtors to the world for the grace given us of God, for the light which has shone upon us, and for the discovered beauty and power of the truth.”
Where would we be without the truth that the Lord had revealed to us? We have strength to overcome because we have the power of God’s Word. Is this not enough for us to have compassion and grace on those in darkness? Is there a person in your life that God is seeking for you to stand in the gap for, to intercede and plead for their salvation? Will the story of their life end with the sad statement from God that says, “But I found none?” Jesus is our Champion and example as He stands in the gap for us. Just as He prayed for Peter in Luke 22:31, He is praying for us that our faith should not fail and that we may strengthen our brethren. Is He testing your faithfulness?
I’m not sure what decisions Mildred will make based on the new light that the Lord is showing her. But I have a deep interest and love for her. And I am grateful for the opportunity to reveal the truth to her and pray for her salvation and the salvation of my other neighbors. We are both being blessed by this relationship and thank the Lord each day that He brought us together on that porch swing almost two years ago.
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Karen Phillips is happily married to her husband, John, and they are enjoying their new home in eastern Kentucky, USA. She enjoys spending time with their four children and three grandchildren. Along with additional staff, they operate an international ministry called HeReturns. Her passion is to serve the Lord in any capacity and to be a conduit to save lost and suffering souls.
