Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.—Romans 12:11,12

She was a lay leader in her unit—deployed for seven months. Before she left we spent time together talking about her hopes for spiritual growth in herself, and her unit, during this time away from home.

So when she returned it was a joy to link up and hear about what she had observed and experienced from her time away—visiting foreign ports, leading the chapel praise team, praying and reading devotions for those who gathered for fellowship and study. But I caught some doubt and discouragement in her voice.

“I’m just not sure if I made any impact at all,” she said. She hadn’t seen any spiritual revival in her unit—and she just didn’t know if the spiritual leadership which she and the other lay leaders offered was of any value to those seeking study and worship.

It’s at times like this that we can encourage one another—because it is the Lord who uses our obedience and faithfulness to do what only He can do. It was easy on my part to thank her (and the other lay leaders) for their faithfulness to serve in this capacity, and to assure her that God would use her service for His glory.

She did admit that others had noticed her joy. In spite of the many tragedies in her young life, others knew her struggles and could see how the Lord was leading her into tremendous recovery and courage. They voiced admiration for her vibrant spirit. When questioned, she could boldly reply, “My joy is from the Lord.” “Maybe that helped someone,” she told me. Indeed it did—no doubt in my mind.

So then I shared with her a story which I heard and read recently. I think we all need to “hear” a story like this from time-to-time . . . because it’s true, and it is how God works:

“His name was David Flood. In 1921, he and his young wife, Svea, left Sweden for the heart of Africa. They were soon joined by another young missionary couple and, together, they decided on a remote village. When they arrived, however, the chief rejected them and would not let them enter his village for fear of displeasing the local gods. The two couples had no choice but to go up a hillside and, on a slope of land, build their own mud huts. They prayed for a spiritual breakthrough, but none came. Their only contact was a young boy, who was allowed to sell chickens and eggs to them twice a week. Svea Flood decided that, if this was the only African villager she could talk to, she would try to lead the boy to Christ. Soon, he did indeed accept the free gift of salvation through faith in Christ’s death alone on the cross. Beyond that, there was no other encouragement.

In the meantime, malaria began to hunt them down. Soon the other couple decided they had had enough and left for another location nearby. David and Svea Flood were alone. In the midst of these trying times, Svea found herself pregnant and, when the time came, the village chief softened just enough to allow a midwife to help her. A little girl, Aina, was born. It was too much for Svea, however, as she was exhausted and weak from malaria. She lived only another seventeen days and died.

Something inside David Flood snapped. He dug a crude grave, buried his twenty-seven year old wife, and took his daughter down the mountain to the mission station. He handed her to the missionaries and snarled, “I’m going back to Sweden. I’ve lost my wife and I obviously can’t take care of a baby. God is not good; He is not faithful; He has, in fact, ruined my life.”

With that, he turned his back on his calling, and on God Himself.

Within eight months, the adoptive parents of Aina died of malaria. She was given to another missionary couple, who brought her to the United States and raised her. Aina, now known as Aggie, grew up in South Dakota. She attended North 7 Central Bible College, in Minneapolis, and married a man, named Dewey Hurst, who entered the ministry.

Years went by. Aggie knew nothing of her past, apart from her parents names, her own birth in Africa, and the death of her mother. She had never seen her father. She enjoyed, with her husband and family, a fruitful ministry. Dewey had become the president of a Bible college in Seattle, Washington.

Then, one day, a Swedish religious magazine appeared in her mailbox. She had no idea who had sent it, and, of course, she could not read the words. But, as she turned the pages, all of a sudden, a photo stopped her cold. There, in a jungle setting, was a grave with a white cross, and on the cross were the words, Svea Flood.

She rushed to the office of a college faculty member who could translate the magazine article. He summarized, “It was about missionaries who had come long ago . . . the birth of a baby . . . the death of the young mother . . . the one little African boy who had been led to Christ . . . how, after the missionaries had left, the boy had grown up and persuaded the chief to let him build a school . . . he won all his students to Christ . . . the children led their parents to Christ . . . the chief, himself, became a Christian . . . today there were six hundred believers in that one village.”

All because of the sacrifice of David and Svea Flood.

For their twenty fifth wedding anniversary, the Bible college gave the Hursts a vacation in Sweden, where, among other things, Aggie could search for her father. It was not difficult to find his family. David Flood had remarried and had four children, but, in bitterness, had slowly wasted away and had only recently suffered a stroke.

After an emotional reunion with her half brothers and sister, Aggie brought up the subject of seeing her father. They replied, “You can talk to him, even though he’s very ill, but you need to know that he’s had one rule in his family, ‘Never mention the name of God, because God is not good, He took everything away from me’.”

Aggie was undeterred. She went in to his room and approached him. He was now seventy-three years old. He turned toward her and, immediately, began to cry, “Aina,” he called her, “Aina, I didn’t mean to give you away.”

“It’s all right, Papa,” she replied, “God took care of me.”

The old man instantly stiffened and the tears stopped. “God? God forgot all of us . . . God forgot us.”

He turned away toward the wall. “Papa, I want to tell you a true story. You didn’t go to Africa in vain. Mama didn’t die in vain. The little boy you won to the Lord grew up to win that whole village to Jesus Christ. Today there are six hundred African people serving the Lord because you followed the call of God in your life. Papa, God had a plan all along . . . He didn’t forget you.”

He turned back from facing the wall, the tears returned, and he began to talk. By the end of that afternoon, the kindness of God had brought him back, not to the repentance that brings salvation, but to the repentance that brings restoration and fellowship.

Aggie and her husband, eventually, had to return to America. A few weeks later, David Flood went home to heaven.

A few years later, Aggie and her husband were attending an evangelism conference in London. A report was given from the nation of Zaire by the superintendent of the national church, representing 110,000 baptized believers. He spoke eloquently about the spread of the gospel in his country. Afterwards, Aggie could not help but go up and ask him if he had ever heard of David and Svea Flood. “Yes, madam,” he replied, “as a little boy, I used to sell chickens and eggs to them twice a week. It was Svea Flood who led me to Christ.”

They embraced for a long time. He then said, “You must come to Africa. Your mother is the most famous person in our church history.”

In time, Aggie did come. She was welcomed by cheering throngs of villagers. Eventually she was taken to her mother’s grave – with that white cross and the words, “Svea Flood,” written there. She knelt in the soil to pray and give thanks to a good and patient and kind God. That national church leader read from scripture, “Those who sow in tears shall reap with songs of joy.”

I pass this along in hopes that if you are wondering if your Christian testimony and witness is making a difference in anyone’s life . . . be encouraged. It is. An eternal difference.

Work cited:

Cymbala, Jim , Fresh Power (Grand Rapids:  Zondervan Publishing House, 2001), p. 115.  This manuscript is from a sermon preached on 8/26/2001 by Stephen Davey. © Copyright 2001 Stephen Davey

Questions to Share:

1. How have you witnessed someone’s Christian walk during deployment? How did that encourage you?

2. How has someone noticed your Christian walk during deployment? How do you hope that has been an encouragement to them?

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. — Isaiah 9:6

It was Christmas Eve in Thailand, 1972. Thanks to Armed Forces Radio “Silent Night” was playing in our room . . . but it was not really a “silent” night at all. I was a young Air Force wife visiting my husband serving that year in Southeast Asia—but even in my naïveté I knew something big was imminent.  Linebacker II was in progress—the 1972 Christmas bombing of Hanoi—and the constant sound of take-offs (“please, Lord”) and landings (“thank you, Lord”) from the Air Base was surreal in dissonance with the sweet music I was hearing on the radio. A rescue was in the works, and the POWs, so long tortured and confined in Hanoi, heard and felt the thunderous aircraft noise with great hope and expectation for their eventual release from captivity.

A few months later, with great anticipation I stayed up all night in my apartment back in Oklahoma to watch on TV as the POWs stepped off of their plane and into the arms of jubilant American service members who were anxious to minister to these heroes. Linebacker II had forced a return to the peace talks, the Paris treaty was signed, and repatriation began.

In the years following, my husband and I had the privilege of getting to know some of these great men who had sacrificed so much at the hands of the enemy. But that Christmas Eve night of 1972 I could only imagine what was really happening in the skies and in the hearts of those who were involved. This was a battle, and not everyone with whom we had breakfast would return from their mission that day. I was a visitor—a quiet observer to a scene that I would never forget. It was holy ground.

Thirty-nine years later I can look back at that experience . . . and realize that just as there was war in 1972, Jesus’ rescue of mankind did not come amidst a pristine world of peace and calm. “Silent Night” is a beautiful song that calls us to stillness and reverence, but the reality is that He was born into a world filled with noise and violence, captivity and torture, selfishness and greed, fear and uncertainty, lies and corruption. Jesus came to provide rescue and proclaim victory . . . . There is a battle.

The oft-quoted prophecy in Isaiah 9:6 reads: “And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” In his new study Bible entitled Discover God, Bill Bright widens our understanding of these profound phrases by explaining them in a military context. He writes, “The titles given to this son of David follow a logical sequence from the planning of a battle to the securing of victory: ‘Wonderful Counselor’ suggests a brilliant strategist; ‘Mighty God’ is literally ‘God is a warrior’ in the Hebrew text; ‘Everlasting Father’ was a common royal title in the ancient Near East; and ‘Prince of Peace’ suggests the kind of reign the Davidic king would enjoy. Isaiah’s hope was realized in the birth of Jesus.”

Peace will not be fulfilled in this world until Jesus returns. Peace in our hearts can only be possible, in the mean time, if Jesus rules in them. Dave Boehi, writer and editor at FamilyLife, wrote in his Marriage Memo entitled “O Come, O Come Immanuel”: “When Jesus was born, God’s people literally lived in captivity—they were ruled by the Romans, and they were hoping for a Savior to free them. They wanted relief from their physical suffering. And yet their captivity and exile was spiritual as well, for they had gone 400 years without hearing from God through prophets or through inspired Scripture . . . We are like Israel, in that we think our biggest problems are in the physical realm. On a big level we want relief from economic hardship and terrorism . . . Yet our biggest problems are actually spiritual in nature. In a sense, we all mourn ‘in lonely exile’ when we are not connected to God, when He is not ‘with us.’ Jesus did not come to liberate us from suffering, but to free our spirits as we go through the suffering that is part of life. He makes it possible for us to connect with God—to know Him personally. For those who have received Christ as Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit lives within them to guide, comfort, and strengthen them, no matter what their circumstances.” (December 15, 2008)

Jesus came 2000 years ago into a world filled with terror to bring peace in our hearts and lives. We can sing “Silent Night” with meaning only if we understand this. His lowly birth in Bethlehem was truly a thunderous rescue if we can understand the enormity of the scene—God Himself coming to earth to save sinful man from certain eternal damnation.

Aircrew members were willing to sacrifice their lives for the saving of others during Linebacker II. How much more our Savior—who did sacrifice His life for the saving of ours. Will you accept His rescue—and surrender to His gift of salvation? Only then can you “sleep in heavenly peace.”

Questions to Share:

1. Do you understand what really happened on Christmas? If not, click on this link.

2. Take some time to pray individually, and as a couple, for the insight to view problems from a spiritual perspective and to trust God to guide you through what is challenging you today.

Editor’s Note:  December 7th is the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. In remembrance of that world-changing event, this devotion is posted to tell one of God’s great redemptive stories.

All the prophets testify about Him that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name. — Acts 10:43

Sgt. Jacob Daniel DeShazer was a crew member in the legendary Doolittle Raiders, a team of 80 brave military servicemen who volunteered and were organized to retaliate for the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor by bombing Tokyo. DeShazer was among those captured by the Japanese Army after bailing out of his plane over Japanese-occupied China. He spent 40 months in captivity, 34 months of it in solitary confinement, and was the victim of cruel torture and starvation. In his own words, DeShazer said, “My hatred for the enemy nearly drove me crazy. . . My thoughts turned toward what I heard about Christianity changing hatred between human beings into real brotherly love and I was gripped with a strange longing to examine the Christian’s Bible to see if I could find the secret. I begged my captors to get a Bible for me. At last, in the month of May, 1944, a guard brought me the book, but told me I could have it only for three weeks. I eagerly began to read its pages. Chapter after chapter gripped my heart.”

Particularly fascinating to DeShazer was his reading of the prophets in the Old Testament. Six times he read through their writings, and focused on the mention of a divine Redeemer to come, one born in human flesh. Then he went on to the New Testament and found there the fulfillment of those prophecies in the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. — Romans 10:9,10

On June 8, 1944, DeShazer confessed his sins and received the forgiveness and salvation promised him in God’s word. Even though he remained in prison for more than a year, he was freed from hatred—free to love. He wrote the following in a post-war tract, “I Was a Prisoner of Japan”: “How my heart rejoiced in my newness of spiritual life, even though my body was suffering so terribly from the physical beatings and lack of food! But suddenly I discovered that God had given me new spiritual eyes and that when I looked at the enemy officers and guards who had starved and beaten my companions and me so cruelly, I found my bitter hatred for them changed to loving pity.”

But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you . . . love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. — Luke 6:27-28,35

With his new-found faith, DeShazer was anxious to “try out” the principles which he had been studying in Scripture, particularly the command to love your enemies. One day he was particularly mistreated by a cruel guard. He decided that the next morning he would greet that guard without bitterness and say “Good morning!” in Japanese. God gave DeShazer the grace to continue with that new treatment, and after a week the guard who had been so mean actually gave him extra food. DeShazer was grateful and decided that God’s way really worked!

Then Jesus came to them and said, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I will be with you always, to the very end of the age.” — Matthew 28:18-20

Physical freedom came for DeShazer and other prisoners-of-war on August 20, 1945. Returning to his home in Oregon, DeShazer began seminary training shortly thereafter at Seattle Pacific College, married, and returned to Japan as a missionary. He served with his family as Free Methodist missionaries in Japan for thirty years, planting 23 churches. Many thousands of Japanese responded to this former POW’s invitation to receive Christ as Lord and Savior—but probably the most notable was Mitsuo Fuchida.

Fuchida was handed DeShazer’s tract “I Was a Prisoner of Japan” in a train station after the war’s end. Commander Fuchida led the Japanese air fleet which bombed Pearl Harbor, the man who had called “Tora! Tora! Tora!” After reading the tract, Fuchida, like DeShazer, was moved by Jesus’ cry from the cross, “Father, forgive them. They do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34) In September of 1949, Fuchida accepted Christ as Savior, was baptized in 1951, and went on to become a missionary in Asia.

However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace. — Acts 20:24

Over the next years, Fuchida and DeShazer spoke to many crowds together and individually, sharing their testimony of the power of Jesus Christ to transform lives. Fuchida’s desire was for people to remember him for the message of his changed heart more than the memory of the Pearl Harbor attack. In 1970 Fuchida wrote in his testimony “From Pearl Harbor to Calvary”: “He is the only One who was powerful enough to change my life and inspire it with His thoughts. He was the only answer to Jake DeShazer’s tormented life. He is the only answer for young people today.” Mitsuo Fuchida died in 1976 at the age of 74, and Jake DeShazer died in 2008 at the age of 95. Two former enemies now together in Heaven.

Does this story speak to you? Are you in a prison of hatred or bitterness? Do you hope for relief? The answers are in the person of Jesus Christ, and written in the words of Scripture and on the hearts of true followers of Christ. It is level ground at the foot of the cross . . . and we are all sinners. We all need forgiveness of sin, all of us. Take the time to repent and to turn your life over to Him.

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. — John 3:16,17

Work cited:

The Doolittle Raiders
Christianity Today
Breakpoint – With Chuck Colson
Commander Fuchida’s Testimony

Questions to Share:

1. What did you read about Sgt. DeShazer and Commander Fuchida that particularly inspired you?

2. Which of the six Scriptures highlighted spoke to you in a way which inspired you to know more about the Lord?

Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD . . . – Psalm 33:12

Each year we celebrate Thanksgiving in the tradition of the Plymouth colony’s harvest at the end of their first year in the New World, 1621. Did these early settlers have cause to thank an Almighty God for their condition? Consider the following facts:

The Pilgrims did not come to America to seek religious freedom.

As a group, they had sought and found asylum in Holland from religious persecution more than twelve years earlier. They, like the Puritans, believed that the Church of England was corrupt. Unlike the Puritans who sought to “purify” the Church from within, these “Separatists” believed the Church was beyond purification. The Church could only be under the headship of Jesus Christ. Therefore, no one, not even the Queen of England could claim title as “Head of the Church.” Because of their convictions these believers were hounded unmercifully. The bishops of the Church of England feared these believers who “spoke enthusiastically of experiencing an encounter with Jesus Christ” might create little clusters of “fanatics” with no semblance of order and no conformity! Under the rule of James I and Charles I, they were literally driven underground and fled to Holland. It should be noted that James I was the sponsor of the King James Version of the Bible, first published in 1611.

Strong conviction led 102 men, women and children to brave sixty-six days at sea confined to an area one-half the size of a volleyball court.

As described by author and historian Peter Marshall, among the several reasons for their leaving was the fact that they “cherished a ‘great hope and inward zeal’ of at least playing a part, if only as a stepping stone for others, in carrying the Light of Christ to remote parts of the world.” They were taking Christ’s words in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) to heart and believed that America was the site God had chosen for them. Were they right?

How committed were they?

The captain and part owner of the Mayflower, Christopher Jones, was hired to take them to just south of the Hudson River—the northernmost boundary of the Virginia Charter. In turn of funding their voyage, they would become indentured servants to English investors who expected 100% return on their investment in the New World. The love and worship of money, it turns out, is not a characteristic of only the 21^st century.

They landed 100 miles north of their intended site.

Despite being tossed about by severe storms, they landed less than 100 miles north of their intended site on the Hudson. The area was Cape Cod. All attempts to move south, approximately a five day journey, were frustrated by headwinds, shoals, riptides, and the approach of winter. After much prayer, they decided to remain at the northern end of the Cape. However, this placed them outside the jurisdiction of the Virginia Company’s charter. They were ungoverned—accountable to no one, and totally unsupported. The fear of mutiny led them to quickly draft the Mayflower Compact. This document, founded on the ancient Hebrew tradition that all men are equal in the sight of God, was the “first time in recorded history that free and equal men had voluntarily covenanted together to create their own new civil government.” The Compact is two short paragraphs—only 200 words long.

Was this the landing site God intended for them? Consider the following:

The site located by a scouting party consisted of over twenty acres of cleared land ready to plant but obviously uninhabited for several years. The area also had four nearby streams, excellent drainage, a beach and protected harbor, in addition to an open field of fire for defense with muskets and cannons.

• They were later to learn that the land had belonged to the fiercest tribe of Indians on the coast—the Patuxet—who had brutally murdered every white man they encountered. The entire tribe had been wiped out by a mysterious plague just four years before their arrival. Neighboring tribes shunned the area fearing bad spirits. The land they “found” literally belonged to no one!

• The Pilgrims lost forty-seven, almost half of their number to illness during the first winter. Although horrifying by today’s standards, this was still better than the 80-90% mortality rate of the Jamestown Settlement. Sunday worship was the high point of their week. The Bible was still a new and fascinating book for them, having only been in the hands of the common man for less than ten years. Do we take our access to God’s word for granted?

The first two Indians they encountered spoke fluent English!

Samoset was the adventurous exploring chief of the Algonquin tribe of Maine. He had been exploring the area for eight months when he strolled into their camp in the spring of 1621. Squanto is not a legend—he was the sole remaining Patuxet Indian. Squanto (Tisquantum was his real name) had been captured and taken to England for nine years and returned to America before being recaptured and sold into slavery in North Africa. He was subsequently rescued by friars who introduced him to the Gospel.

• The Pilgrims were indebted to Squanto’s teaching for their survival the first year. These city dwellers appeared to become his personal mission. He taught them how to fish, plant corn, and trap for furs. The trading and farming skills he taught them became their economic and physical deliverance. Was Squanto an agent of God?

The First Thanksgiving

Governor Bradford declared a day of Thanksgiving in October of 1621. The celebration of safety, blessing, and a prosperous harvest, accompanied by over ninety Indian guests, ended up lasting more than three days.

Thus was born the tradition of the first Thanksgiving in America. A God-fearing people who had placed their very existence in a hostile new land solely in His hands responded with prayer, worship, love, and gratitude for His provisions; then shared it with their pagan neighbors with whom they were living in peace. Are we expected to do any less?

America’s heritage is a Christian heritage!

Work Cited:

The majority of this information and all quotes are taken from The Light and the Glory by Peter Marshall.

Questions to Share:

1. What were you taught about the history of Thanksgiving in America? Were there any details in this writing which reminded you of what you were taught?

2. What are you thankful for this year? Has your time of geographic separation from loved ones during deployment been a time during which you could reflect on your life?

Outdo one another in showing honor. — Romans 12:10

My husband and I have the privilege of working with all five branches of the military. But until last week we had never been part of a Marine Corps birthday ceremony, officially celebrated on the 10^th of November to mark that date in 1775 when the Continental Congress declared two battalions of Marines would be raised.

We had never heard the detailed explanation of the traditions surrounding the Marine Corps birthday celebration, until last week. We had never seen a Marine Corps birthday cake cut with the sword and given ceremoniously to the oldest and youngest Marines present, until last week.  At the particular celebration location where we gathered, the oldest Marine present was 72 years old and the youngest was 70 years old. . . there were as many smiles in our group as there were tears. And particularly meaningful was that part of the ceremony when the birthday greeting was given by the Commandant, General James F. Amos, by video:

On this 236^th birthday of the Marine Corps, we have the opportunity to reflect on things that are honorable. . . including the heroic service of Marines and their families throughout the history of the United States. It does us well to think on things that are honorable: “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.” (Philippians 4:8) Betsy Childs writes in Ravi Zacharias’ devotional site, A Slice of Infinity, of the value of thinking in this way, “While it took me a while to think of things that fit these characteristics, once I thought of them, my heart was full of gratitude and admiration. I found that I started looking out for these things, striving to recognize excellence and make note of it in my mind.” (“Think on These Things” 4/17/07)

It seems fitting to close this tribute to our fellow service members and their dear families with The Marine’s Prayer: “Almighty Father, whose command is over all and whose love never fails, make me aware of Thy presence and obedient to Thy will. Keep me true to my best self, guarding me against dishonesty in purpose and deed and helping me to live so that I can face my fellow Marines, my loved ones and Thee without shame or fear. Protect my family. Give me the will to do the work of a Marine and to accept my share of responsibilities with vigor and enthusiasm. Grant me the courage to be proficient in my daily performance. Keep me loyal and faithful to my superiors and to the duties my country and the Marine Corps have entrusted to me. Make me considerate of those committed to my leadership. Help me to wear my uniform with dignity, and let it remind me daily of the traditions which I must uphold. If I am inclined to doubt, steady my faith; if I am tempted, make me strong to resist; if I should miss the mark, give me courage to try again. Guide me with the light of truth and grant me wisdom by which I may understand the answer to my prayer. Amen.”

Thank you, Marines, for your proud and sacrificial service. And as we thank them, we thank all of you—the Soldiers, Airmen, Sailors, Coast Guardsmen. . . active duty, Guard, Reserve . . . and your families. . . for your faithfulness to serve in a noble cause with dignity and honor.

“Pray for us. We are sure that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way.” Hebrews 13:18

Questions to Share:

1. What emotions did the video invoke in your spirit? Share those with your spouse.

2. In what ways is your military service leaving a legacy of honor in your family? How has God prepared you to serve in this way?

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. — Deuteronomy 31:6

But the noble man makes noble plans, and by noble deeds he stands. —  Isaiah 32:8

Our son entered active duty military service in June of 1999.

Wait a minute—that’s not entirely true.  Our son entered military service the day he was born!  As a military brat he served throughout his childhood with moves, ceremonies, separations, travels, promotions and uncertainties.  As a child I believe that most of the reality of sacrifice he experienced was surrounded by the aura of “adventure.”

Now he is the one who is helping his children enjoy and accept the adventures of military service—knowing full well there is sacrifice involved.

At some point in his life he took “ownership” of this ideal of noble service to one’s country.  At some point he knew in his heart that there is a cost to freedom, and it is a cost which some are called to pay with their lives. At some point he understood that American citizenship is an honor and privilege, and worth fighting for to insure that gift for future generations.

“At some point.” My husband and I know when that “point” occurred—when our (then) 11 year old son went to Normandy with his Grandfather and Dad to visit where “Pappa” jumped into France on D-Day, 1944. Our young boy walked along the beaches, through the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, amongst the old German defensive bunkers, and up and down country roads trying to find “the bridge” which was Pappa’s objective where he was to join up with his unit—on two sprained ankles. Ten days later, Pappa was wounded near Carentan—so these three visitors to the past included a search for that intersection.

After recovering from his wounds, Pappa went on to finish his enlistment in the Army during World War II in the sweep across Germany. And if you visit his house today you will find his Purple Heart and other medals framed and mounted on his office wall.  Next to them is the original copy of Eisenhower’s commission—handed to him and to other brave young men who risked their lives for the freedom of Europe—and all of us—on D-Day.

Now Pappa is one of the few soldiers left who fought above the beaches of Normandy. Several years ago, as he was being wheeled down to surgery at the local VA hospital, we were surprised but pleased to see the medical staff stop, snap to attention and salute him as they rolled him down the corridor.  That was impressive.

Our son continues the legacy of military service which is so evident in our family. Perhaps your family is the same—you are passing on something that you saw, lived and valued enough to invest in for your future generations. Or perhaps your family is first to serve your country in military duty.

What we can say for sure is that others are watching. Perhaps your children, like our son, are seeing the fruit of honorable service and sacrifice. “The eyes of the world are upon you.”

We are proud of you.  On this Veterans’ Day, we say “thank you for your service to our dear country, and to our Lord.”

Questions to Share:

1. What prompted you to join the ranks of those in military service?  Was it a decision that you made together as a couple?

2. How would you like to remember these days of active duty service twenty (or more) years from now?  Share with each other your thoughts.

Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld His love from me! — Psalm 66:20, Anonymous, written after a great victory in battle (according to The Living Bible NIV translation)

“I asked God for strength that I might achieve,
I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey.
I asked for health that I might do great things,
I was given infirmity that I might do better things,
I asked for riches that I might be happy,
I was given poverty that I might be wise.
I asked for power that I might have the praise of men,
I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God.
I asked for all things that I might enjoy life,
I was given life that I might enjoy all things,
I got nothing that I asked for but everything I had hoped for.
Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered.
I am, among all men, most richly blessed.”  — Anonymous (Tuley, p. 58)

Perhaps you have read this before—and not realized that it was attributed to an unknown Confederate soldier wounded and disabled during the Civil War. When reading it again in one of my favorite devotional books, Battlefields and Blessings: Stories of Faith and Courage from the Civil War, I wanted to know more about it—perhaps there was a “story” behind its author which I could share. I researched what little else I could find about the prayer . . . .and the only other additional information I found was a different account which said that the writing was discovered in the uniform pocket of a Confederate soldier who was killed in battle.

Whether it was written by the soldier, or carried by the soldier—we don’t know. He is “Anonymous.” Maybe the day will come in which I will receive more definitive information on it which I can then pass along to you. But I find beauty and power in the common story of this soldier’s prayer—no matter the circumstances. The truth contained in this profound writing is timeless and universal. God knows what we need—and answers our prayers in ways which may confound us, and comfort us. While this soldier may be unknown to us, he was and is well-known and well-loved by God, who was with him as he fought and struggled.

The eternal impact of this unknown soldier’s prayer reminds me of the Book of Psalms—about two-thirds of which are attributed to a named author and the other one-third are “anonymous.” When we do not know the writer or exact history of a psalm, we are left to imagine what it is that the author is feeling or facing—and how he is reaching out to God for strength, comfort, justice, mercy, forgiveness, grace, healing, blessing, guidance, wisdom. We can reach into our own “story”—our own life circumstances—and know that just as God was faithful in the past (both for the psalmist and for ourselves), He is faithful in the present and the future.

I recently found a devotional book published in 1942 specifically for soldiers going off to World War II, entitled Strength for Service to God and Country. It was edited by Chaplain Norman E. Nygaard who compiled the 365 short writings from pastors all over the country. His hope and purpose was to share inspirational thoughts and prayers to help these brave men and women prepare for battle. The entry for March 13^th is entitled “Read the Bible” and was written by Rev. Hugh Elmer Brown of Evanston, Illinois. I found his words to be particularly thoughtful: “For cleansing, for comfort, and for command, the Bible has no equal. It is the moral radium of the world. It is Everybody’s Book. Put your ear to it and you hear universal man as he sobs and sings, as he sighs, swears, and supplicates. Coffins and cradles, glories and glooms, comedies and tragedies, all the ups and downs of human experience are in the Bible.”

God loves you. He loves your family. To Him you are well-known and well-loved. You are not “anonymous” to Him. He loves you so much that He sent His own Son to die on a cross for you (John 3:16). The Bible says that He knows you so well that “even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” (Matthew 10:30) He wants to strengthen you and teach you, especially during this deployment—just as He did this courageous soldier over one hundred and fifty years ago. Read this soldier’s prayer. . . . .read the Bible. They are written about you, and for you.

Work Cited:

Nygaard, Norman E., editor, Strength for Service to God and Country (Nashville: Abingdon-Cokesbury Press, 1942)

Tuley, Terry, Battlefields and Blessings: Stories of Faith and Courage from The Civil War (Chattanooga: Living Ink Books, 2006)

Questions to Share:

1. What does the soldier’s prayer say to you during this deployment?

2. In what ways do you know that the Bible was written for you?

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. — II Timothy 3:16,17

The answer from the young military members coming to our church was, “We don’t know the Old Testament.” What was the question? The question we asked was, “What can we do during the time you’re stationed here to get you to the next level of spiritual maturity?”

So we took a year to teach the Old Testament to these young people from the local bases. Dinner, then Bible study, every Saturday night. When they left—to Alaska, Korea, Iraq, in a submarine somewhere, and another leaving active duty to attend seminary—they had reached a new level of knowledge and understanding of God, as found in the Old Testament.

When a military service member, single or married, arrives at your church, you must know that they are there for a reason. . . . .and they are there for a season. God sent them to you for His purpose—to love them and build into them a greater love for God as revealed in His holy word. But they are only there for a period of time—and sometimes they will go directly from your fellowship to a combat tour overseas. What a great opportunity to teach, mentor, prepare, train, and encourage! If we, as an individual or a church (or chapel) don’t see that, we need to look more closely.

For all the wonderful things that we can do for and with military members today (there are many wonderful things which help ease burdens and express appreciation), the best we can offer is solid scriptural preaching and teaching—“especially regarding the sovereignty of God” (Captain Dale Parker, Regional Chaplain, U.S. Navy).

If you have seen the movie, “Black Hawk Down,” or have studied that battle in Mogadishu, you may have heard of Sgt. Jeff Struecker. Now an Army chaplain, Struecker’s story was recently included in a magazine published by Officers’ Christian Fellowship: “As part of an Army Ranger unit intent on saving fellow soldiers in the Black Hawk Down conflict, he called on past Bible studies to find peace. ‘Frankly, it was what got me back and forth through the city streets of Somalia,’ Struecker says about the Scriptures . . . . Struecker recounted Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, Paul’s thoughts about being apart from the body and present with the Lord, and a litany of Psalms while walking—and hiding—in the war-torn streets as gunfire and tragedy enveloped him around two downed Black Hawk helicopters.” The Bible study and Scripture memory disciplines he learned early in his Army career served him well, and now he equips others to do the same. He advises, “I encourage my guys to write verses of Scripture on the walls and the little wooden poles in their tents. I tell them, ‘Put a passage of Scripture up so that every time you come in here and see the graffiti you force yourself to memorize that verse.’” Struecker now regards this a primary mission . . . to impress on others the importance of the life-changing and peace-giving words in the Bible. (“Drawing on Scripture under Gunfire,” Command magazine of OCF, February 2010)

That was our same mission with our Saturday night students.  It was particularly exciting to point out to our group that Jesus is found throughout the Old Testament and not just in the New Testament.  Beyond the prophecies and theophanies, we see Jesus Christ as “the scarlet thread” throughout the Bible—a picture of His blood shed on the cross for the redemption of our sin. The best book-by-book description of Jesus in the Old Testament we have ever heard is by Dr. Stephen Davey of Colonial Baptist Church in Cary, North Carolina. His radio/teaching ministry is called “Wisdom for the Heart”. . .  and this transcript is from his Easter sermon (4/18/04) on Luke 24:13-35 entitled “The Road Back to Hope”:

“I imagined what I would have heard, had I been walking along from Jerusalem to Emmaus (with Jesus). I simply wrote down point after point as I traveled rapidly through the Old Testament scriptures, of the ways Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was truly pictured and prophesied in each book. Let me give them to you. In:

Genesis—He is the prophesied seed who will crush the serpent’s head; He is the brother betrayed by His kinsmen, whose betrayal will lead to their deliverance;

Exodus—He is the great “I AM”;He is the Passover Lamb whose blood protects His people from the angel of death and the wrath of God; He is manna from heaven and water from the rock;

Leviticus—He is the tabernacle of God among men;

Numbers—He is the great hope in whom all can safely put their trust; He is the great High Priest who will never fail;

Deuteronomy—He is the Lord our God; He is the city of refuge where criminals may run for protection;

Joshua—He is the champion over every enemy that stands in the way of God’s people;

Judges—He is the angel of God, empowering the weak and pursuing the wandering; He is the perfection of grace and patience toward His wandering people;

Ruth—He is the wealthy landowner who redeems His gentile bride from hopeless poverty; placing her in the family line of royalty; giving her the right to everything of His vast estate;

I and II Samuel—He is the name of the Lord, in whose strength young men of faith conquer enemies and slay giants;

Kings and Chronicles—He is the sovereign King behind and above all kingdoms, both pagan and God-fearing;

Ezra—He is the keeper of divine promise to Israel and the hand that liberates His people from bondage;

Nehemiah—He is the re-builder of broken lives and the restorer of broken fellowship;

Esther—He is behind the scenes, outsmarting the evil one and seeing that His remnant remain, whispering into the ear of a young queen that for such a time as this, she has been crowned.

Job—He is the majestic One who rides upon the wind and commands the lightning; He is the Lord of mystery who does not explain life, but reveals He is sovereign over all of life;

Psalms—He is the rock of refuge, the Shepherd of the sheep, the tower of shelter, the sweet honey of revelation, thirst-quenching water, a crucified Savior, and a sin forgiving Redeemer;

Proverbs—He is everlasting wisdom; divine counsel for those who accept His invitation to turn aside and listen;

Ecclesiastes—He is eternal satisfaction over every earthly desire; He is the One to be remembered in the days of our youth;

Song of Solomon—He is the Bridegroom who pursues His bride, stopping at nothing until she is safely in His arms;

Isaiah—He is Emmanuel, the suffering Savior, the One crushed for our iniquities and the coming Prince of Peace whose strong shoulder will one day bear the governments of the world;

Jeremiah—He is the branch of righteousness who brings justice and equity; He is the promised One who will write a new covenant on the hearts of His people;

Lamentations—He is the father who disciplines the sons He loves;

Ezekiel—He is resurrection power, breathing life into dry bones and bringing life from death; He is the faithful leader re-gathering His wandering flock;

Daniel—He is the stone, cut without hands, rejected by kingdoms, yet smiting the false image and filling the earth with His glory; He is the one whose Kingdom will not end;

Hosea—He is the faithful husband of the faithless wife;

Joel—He is the hope of His people, the strength of the children of Israel;

Amos—He is the wrath of God against oppressors; He is the promise of vineyards and gardens where His children will one day rest;

Obadiah—He ascends Mount Zion as the deliverer who judges the kingdoms of this world and inaugurates His own everlasting reign;

Jonah—He is the fulfillment of the sign that after three days and three nights, the Son of Man will come forth vindicating the righteousness of God and resurrection power;

Micah—He is the One who pardons our iniquities; who does not retain His anger forever; who delights in unchanging love; He is the one who treads our iniquities under His feet; who casts all our sins into the depths of the sea;

Nahum—He is slow to anger and great in power; of Him the mountains quake and the hills dissolve, yet He is a safe haven for all who hide in Him;

Habakkuk—He is radiant like sunlight; whose strength makes our feet like the hinds feet, and makes us walk on high places;

Zephaniah—He is the One who will gather those who grieve and those who are lame and those who are outcast; He is the One who will turn their shame and despair into everlasting praise;

Haggai—He is the victorious Lord of hosts who will shake the heavens and the earth as He overthrows the nations of this world; He is the One who will wear His chosen people as jewels around His omnipotent fingers;

Zechariah—He stands with His redeemed on the Mount of Olives; His holiness will be praised, even by the inscriptions on the bells of horses’ bridles as they gallop through the city of His glory—“Holy to the Lord” will be their praise for the Messiah;

Malachi—He is the divine Refiner, sitting over the smelting pot of His universe, purifying His chosen people as silver and gold; He is the great King, who does not change; and for all those who believe in Him, He will one day rise with healing in His wings!

Our students left our Saturday night study with a new-found knowledge of Scripture. And with that, through the power of the Holy Spirit, came a new-found basis for hope. That hope saw Jeff Struecker through combat in Somalia, and multiple deployments since, and is the same hope which will see you through anything you are facing today.

For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. — Romans 15:4

Work cited:

Davey, Dr. Stephen, “The Road Back to Hope: The Men Who Missed Easter,” Wisdom for the Heart, wisdomonline.org, sermon preached on 4/18/2004.

Newcomb, Tim, “Drawing On Scripture under Gunfire,” Command: Christian Perspectives on Life in the Military (Englewood, Colorado, Officer’s Christian Fellowship, Vol. 59, No. 1, pgs. 4 & 5).

Questions to Share:

1. Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible and speaks of the author’s love for God’s word. “You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in Your word.” (Psalm 119:114) In what ways have you relied on Scripture to give you hope?

2. Pray for God to increase your love for Him by increasing your desire to read and understand the Bible.

“Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.” —Jeremiah 29:12,13

On the battlefields of the Civil War, one hundred and forty-eight years ago, the troops of the Army of Northern Virginia (Confederacy) experienced an event called for by their president, Jefferson Davis. On August 21, 1863, they observed a “day of prayer and fasting.” General Robert E. Lee issued this order in response to President Davis’ request:

“The President of the Confederate States has, in the name of the people, appointed the 21^st day of August as a day of fasting, humiliation and prayer. A strict observance of the day is enjoined upon the officers and soldiers of this army. All military duties, except such as are absolutely necessary, will be suspended. . . . Soldiers! We have sinned against Almighty God. We have forgotten His signal mercies, and have cultivated a revengeful, haughty, and boastful spirit. We have not remembered that the defenders of a just cause should be pure in His eyes; that ‘our times are in His hands;’ and we have relied too much on our own arms for the achievement of our independence. God is our only refuge and our strength. Let us humble ourselves before Him. Let us confess our many sins, and beseech Him to give us a higher courage, a purer patriotism, and more determined will; that He will convert the hearts of our enemies,; that He will hasten the time when war, with its sorrows and sufferings, shall cease, and that He will give us a name and place among the nations of the earth.” Christ in the Camp, p. 56

Revivals were becoming more common in the camps of the Confederacy, so much so that when the War ended and the soldiers headed home (some with new-found faith), their spiritual fervency was instrumental in creating what we now call “the Bible Belt.” Christ in the Camp is a beautiful compilation of letters and reports from the field—chronicling what God brought about between chaplains, missionaries, and pastors and the soldiers and families whom they served during the Civil War. First published in 1887 by Chaplain J. William Jones, the book is over six hundred pages of actual accounts and correspondence which can only reinforce what was true then and now—our only hope is in Christ Jesus.

The introduction to the book is written by Chaplain J. C. Granberry, and includes this description of the military soldier:

“The martial imagery of which Paul (in the New Testament) was fond shows an analogy between the life of the soldier and the life of the saint. The centurion of Capernaum and the centurion of Cesarea were patterns of faith and of a devout spirit. The soldier’s habits of unquestioning obedience to orders, of trust in superior officers, and of freedom from anxiety about things for which he is not responsible, fit into the life of faith. . . . . I have nowhere witnessed more complete, symmetrical and beautiful examples of Christian character than in the army. . . Not recklessly, but with thoughtful and prayerful solemnity, they went into fierce battle; yet the peace of God which passeth all understanding kept their hearts against alarm. . . . To God be all the glory!” (p. 15-16)

The Northern counterpart to Christ in the Camp is the fascinating book entitled From the Flag to the Cross, published in 1872. Story after story of soldiers making decisions to follow Christ—both before battle and after battle, sometimes in the hospital and sometimes in prison—fills the pages of this book by Chaplain A. S. Billingsley. The book also tells of the contribution that the U.S. Christian Commission made to the spiritual life of the U.S. Army: “The efficiency and success of the Commission were wonderful. Beginning with eighteen members in 1861, before the close of the war it had engaged nearly five thousand delegates laboring for the temporal and spiritual wants of the men. Talking Christ to them, preaching to and praying for and with them, was the principal business of a great part of the delegates. In all, they preached to them over 58,000 sermons, and held with them over 77,000 prayer-meetings, and gave them 1,466,748 Bibles and parts of Bibles, 18,000,000 religious newspapers, 1,370,000 hymn-books, over 8,000,000 knapsack-books, and 39,000,000 pages of tracts, and wrote for them 92,000 letters. The total value of the whole amount contributed in four years was $6,291,107.68. With zealous hearts these noble brethren ‘went about doing good,’ relieving and comforting the officer, soldier, and sailor wherever they found them.’” (p. 333) Among the members of the U.S. Christian Commission, who served side-by-side with chaplains, was pastor and evangelist Dwight L. Moody.

I particularly enjoy the vignettes of interviews held by chaplains with soldiers in From the Flag to the Cross. One such visit between a hospital chaplain and a soldier yielded this exchange:

“While it has often been said by the thoughtless and careless, ‘We can’t live out religion in the army;’ and although it is often said by a certain class of professors, ‘the army is a hard place to be a Christian, and live it out,’ yet at our first interview with James H. Finney, 1^st N.Y. Engineers, we found him entertaining a very different view, and being fully conscious of the enjoyments and consolations of the Christian religion, he says, ‘It would be hard to live in the army without it.’ Opposed, as we are, by the combined powers of the world, the flesh, and the devil, life at best is a warfare from the cradle to the grave. And although the temptations are greater and the restraints weaker some places than others, yet, since God’s grace is sufficient at all times and under all circumstances to guide, guard, and sustain the believer, he can, if he will, at all times walk worthy of his vocation, and so live and act that his life will be an embodiment of the great doctrines of the cross of Christ. And it is impugning the wisdom, mercy, powers, and grace of God to say that he cannot.” (p. 139-140)

So we have begun with a call to prayer on the battlefield and ended with a call to faithfulness from a wounded soldier to his chaplain. Perhaps some things in military life have changed, but the charge given above from 2 Corinthians 12:9 will never change: “But He (the Lord) said to me (the apostle Paul), ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Are you feeling weak today? Remember that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” ( Hebrews 13:8)  He is the same Christ who ministered to soldiers in the Civil War, and He can minister to you today. Call to Him—He will answer. He loves you!

Jones, J. William, Christ in the Camp (Harrisonburg: Sprinkle Publications, 1986. Originally published by B. F. Johnson & Co. in 1887)

Billingsley, Amos S. From the Flag to the Cross (Birmingham: Solid Ground Christian Books, 2006. Originally published by New World Publishing Co. of Philadelphia in 1872)

Questions to Share:

1. Chaplain Granberry refers to Philippians 4:7. Look that up in a Bible, and then read verses 8 and 9 which follow. How does Paul say that the God of peace can be with you?

2. In what ways does studying what was demanded of soldiers in the past inspire you to fulfill your mission today?

But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.’ . . . .That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
—2 Corinthians 12:9, 10

People write books on God’s grace. Books about transforming grace, saving grace, all-sufficient grace, powerful grace. . . . .amazing grace. There are acrostics to try and define grace, like “God’s riches at Christ’s expense.” There are descriptions, like “Grace is getting what we don’t deserve while mercy is not getting what we do deserve.” Daily, God extends grace to me in unexpected ways—as I have strength to face new challenges, patience to withstand things that used to drive me crazy, extra hope to give me eternal perspective, opportunities to help others, and even grace to accept help when I need it.

But what about grace to face multiple deployments? Perhaps your marriage survived the first deployment. . . .barely. Then with the second deployment you were more prepared than the first, and took some steps to improve in communications and commitment. The third deployment came sooner than you expected and more frustration set in. Now you’re on what seems to be a never-ending course for more and more separation, loneliness, hard work under harsh conditions, and danger. . . . . what kind of grace will get you through those struggles? Let’s call it greater grace. Greater grace takes you from “I can’t do this anymore” to “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13)

I first studied “greater grace” with “ears to hear and eyes to see” when I read about Corrie ten Boom. Her heroic Christian family sheltered Jews from the Nazis in Holland during World War II. Their “Hiding Place,” as it was called, was a secret closet in their family home where the “guests” hid when enemy soldiers would come searching for them. It was when the family was suspected and then accused of hiding Jews that the ten Booms were taken to concentration camps in Germany as punishment. Corrie survived the atrocities, but most of her family did not. After being released unexpectedly in 1945, Corrie served others who were recovering from the wounds of war—eventually becoming an author and speaker who inspired many to persevere under impossible circumstances and forgive the unforgivable—with God’s grace.

It was the story of her father’s teaching about the timing of God’s grace which greatly impacted me years ago. I have never forgotten this teaching, and it has encouraged me time and time again. Instead of projecting the feeling of fear into the future, Casper ten Boom used an illustration that his children understood to convince them that God’s greater grace would be available to them when they needed it—and not before. As the story goes, one night Corrie expressed her fear of death to her father. “Father sat down on the edge of the narrow bed. ‘Corrie,’ he began gently,’ when you and I go to Amsterdam—when do I give you your ticket?’ I sniffed a few times, considering this. ‘Why, just before we get on the train.’ ‘Exactly. And our wise Father in heaven knows when we’re going to need things too. Don’t run out ahead of Him, Corrie. When the time comes that some of us will have to die, you will look into your heart and find the strength you need—just in time.” The Hiding Place, p. 44

It really is a matter of trust in God—that He loves us and will give us the grace to endure when we need it. The grace for the fourth, fifth, sixth deployment will come—He promised. But it won’t come until we need it.

My favorite hymn to express this understanding is “He Giveth More Grace” found here on uTube. This hymn was written by a devout believer named Annie Johnson Flint (1866-1932). Orphaned at a young age, and then later adopted by a Christian couple in New Jersey, Annie had a gift for writing poetry. This gift would later be her whole means of support, for Annie was stricken with crippling arthritis in her late teens and spent most of her life as an invalid in extreme pain. Even if you do not know the sweet melody of this old hymn, read the words in order to grasp what Miss Flint was urging us to comprehend:

“He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater;
He sendeth more strength when the labors increase.
To added affliction He addeth His mercy;
To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace.

When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources,
Our Father’s full giving is only begun.

Chorus:
His love has no limit; His grace has no measure;
His pow’r has no boundary known unto men.
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus,
He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again!”

There is grace for the moment, for the hour, for the trial, for the deployment. There is the provision of love, comfort, forgiveness, wisdom, strength, patience, joy, contentment, peace. . . . .if we will trust God for what He promises and then be obedient to His guidance. “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” — Hebrews 4:16

Work cited:

ten Boom, Corrie, The Hiding Place (Grand Rapids: Chosen Books, 1971)

Information on Annie Johnson Flint at blessedquietness.com

Questions to Share:

1. Thinking that you need to use today’s limited strength to fight tomorrow’s battles is a prescription for fear and discouragement. Scripture says, “Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. I say to myself, ‘The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him.’” (Lamentations 3:21-24)

What can you trust God for that you are inclined to worry about?

2. When you look back at your life so far, how did God get you through past deployments? How can you trust Him to get you through future deployments?