“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” (Ezekiel 22:30).

The divine search was on, but no one was found to do the Lord’s work. How tragic! He sought for a committed servant, but He found none. That was then: But what about today? For what kind of man is God searching?

First, God is searching for a man who will really pray. “And He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor” (Isaiah 59:16). “There is none that calleth upon thy name” (Isaiah 64:7). God was amazed that there were no intercessors. Is the Lord just as amazed at us?

Secondly, God is searching for a man who longs for a deeper Christian experience. “There is none . . . that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee” (Isaiah 64:7). Do we “hunger and thirst after righteousness” (Matthew 5:6), or is God amazed at our lack of spiritual desire? “Woe to them that are at ease in Zion” (Amos 6:1).

Thirdly, God is searching for a man who will love the souls of men. David said, “I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me . . . no man cared for my soul” (Psalm 142:4). Soul winning comes from the very heart of God. Do we share that burden with God? Or are lost souls around us saying, “No man cares for my soul”?

In Ezekiel’s day, no one could be found to do the Lord’s work because all of God’s people were serving sin instead of the Lord. “Her prophets . . . devoured souls” (v.25), “her priests have violated my law” (v.26), “her . . . princes are like wolves ravening” (v.27), and “the people . . . have used oppression” (v.29). Sin is the great barrier to service.

God still desires servants to “make up the hedge, and stand in the gap.” Will He find us, or are we part of the “but I found none” group? NPS