Just wantin’ to say it. . .”Deployments stink!”

Excellent or Praiseworthy is posted on Monday and Thursday nights.

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” — 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

I just want to say it, “Deployments stink.” Whether they’re one month or fifteen months, they’re just awful. Ask my husband the Army fanatic – he loves wearing muted brown uniforms and shining boots and the smelling like fuel and weapons – even he will admit that living in a tent and looking at sand for any period of time is lousy. But he’d do it again tomorrow if you needed him to. I am not that dedicated. The “inner me” fights against the unknowns of war, the weariness of single-mothering, the feeling I’ve given away another year of my life. You can see where moping can take me. My inner side (yep, the flesh) is not real pretty—which is why God doesn’t want me dwelling there!

God does not require that we be happy. God does not want me to “fake it” and share meaningless platitudes with the military families around me. Nope, all He wants from me is that I keep on living a life that is faithful. And faith does not look down! Faith fights, as Paul writes in 1 Timothy 6:11-12, “. . .pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith.”

In his book Deserted By God?, Christian theologian Sinclair Ferguson writes, “At best, discouragement allows us to glimpse the future only in the dim light of the present. But God’s word encourages us to look at the present in the bright light of the future.” That’s what being faithful does for us. . . for me.

The word faithful is an adjective meaning, “firm in adherence to whatever one is bound to by duty or promise.” Well, I’m bound to my husband by a promise, to my son by willing duty and maybe a few groups and friends by some promise of commitment. But what binds me to my God is nothing I’ve done. You see those binding ropes that keep me firmly to Him are held by Him. He has hold of me and is leading me right where He wants me to go – or to stay for awhile. I can look at my surroundings in light of how hard they are now or in light of what awaits. And knowing what awaits (eternity with Him) brings me closer to an understanding of the definition of faith in Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” And that decision—to look at my surroundings in light of what awaits—makes all the difference!

I am not a soldier, bound to my country. But I am faithful to my Master – allegiant, ardent, constant, loyal, resolute, steady, and true.

Questions to share:

1. In what ways can you relate to what this Army wife is saying?

2. How does 2 Timothy 4:7-8 relate to what Sinclair Ferguson wrote?

2 Timothy 4:7-8 says “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for His appearing.”

Sinclair Ferguson writes: “At best, discouragement allows us to glimpse the future only in the dim light of the present. But God’s word encourages us to look at the present in the bright light of the future.”