Our hope in him is our rest.

Church,

In life, we all need ambassadors. We all need someone we can trust, someone to refuge ourselves at to help secure and restore us to where we really should be. It doesn’t matter the area of concern, the need is all the same. Whether it’s life in general, personal finance, personal health or personal education, the need is all the same. Life requires advocates in all areas.

The problem is that, for as much as we want and need such ambassadors, man alone is not mighty enough to provide consistently such services. Why? Because the need is exponentially greater than our human capacity to provide.

We can’t be there for everyone 24×7. Becoming an ambassador of such is almost a self-sacrifice that’s not always met with fair compensation or gratitude. For example, a medical doctor may feel empowered to address other’s health concerns, and yet cannot be there 24×7 because he has his own life and may have his family to give his attention to as well. The diseases are evolving in greater magnitude at a faster pace than ever before, even when more doctors are being added daily. Patients don’t always get better. And only a handful of doctors are in it for the betterment of others’ health rather than simply the enrichment of their pockets.

Ambassadors can all seem to be doing a great job in their community. Yet, many times, such comes at the cost of neglecting themselves and their own family. To make matters worse, all of their efforts and services can easily be discarded the moment they make a representation of their weaknesses.

Many folks start with great intentions not knowing what lies ahead, being so unprepared for the possibilities. They graciously invite everyone onto their boat and head out to sail believing to be doing an honorable deed. Then when no land is in sight, storms come pounding down against their foundation, their boat, their beliefs that all should be well. Right there in the middle of the sea, someone makes the suggestion, “We need to let go of the cargos”, and so they let go of the cargos to not sink under the waves. Next, another implies, “We’re taking in too much water. We need to let go of some passengers. If you can’t do it, I’ll do it for you.”

This is the moment we then realize that for as much as we had wanted to believe in ourselves, in our capacities, in our many successes as true ambassadors, we were never prepared for the moment where we can no longer truly render the service of an ambassador we had truly hoped to deliver.

Life requires the services of ambassadors. But we cannot consistently render those services ourselves. It’s just too much. There’s a need. We all can see it. But the need exceedingly surpasses what we can do.

We’re on a boat in the middle of the ocean. What’s the possibility that we may not make it to shore as we had hoped and assured others? Just look around. It’s all water, for now. We have lifeboats, but then again it’s not a guarantee of safe arrival to shore. The need always exceeds our measuring tools.

“We’re going to save as many as we can”, we conclude. And then we the leaders, we the ambassadors, we the advocates are now struggling for our own lives. What then can we do for others when we cannot save even our own selves? Maybe we’re hoping to pass the baton to another. But the cycle never ends: we leave to make room for another. And despite all the griefs and struggles that we believe to have helped others avoid by our services as ambassadors, they remain challenged with more and newer versions of the same struggles.

“I wish I could…”, “I did”, “Nothing has changed much…”

Paul in one of his letters of encouragement to the Christians at Corinth, he said:

“God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s trespasses against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ: Be reconciled to God.” (2 Corinthians 5:19-20)

He said, “we are ambassadors for Christ.” In simpler terms, we are those others can come to and feel at rest, at peace, due to the message of hope, the message of reconciliation, God’s reconciling them to himself, that they need to know and be reminded of in the midst of situations and circumstances they are undergoing.

There’s nothing else we can guarantee anyone other than Christ. For as much as we would like to plug every hole that water seems to be making its way through, we can only assure others of what will happen after the boat has sunk and that they are submerged by the water. We can only assure them of Christ, their resurrector.

Our hope is in Christ, the mercy of God, the love of God. Nothing less, nothing more. Our message to the refugees ought to always be, “whatever happens, you’re always be safe in the hands of God because of his great love for you, the same love that caused him to sacrifice his son to demonstrate how far his son and he will go to fully convince you that He loves you.”

The love of God is our embassy. The love of God is our refuge. Our hope in him, Christ Jesus, is our rest.