I opened my email one morning and read a message from a sweet military wife whose husband was in Afghanistan. She had been reading postings on Excellent or Praiseworthy, and was grateful for the encouragement. Then she closed her comment with, “I’m so thankful for America, a free country that allows me to know what true freedom is in Christ!”
From the blog of a soldier's wife, serving in Afghanistan: As I write this, winds continue to howl furiously throughout the woods in our backyard. The weather was expected to be severe late tonight, but as we drove home from dinner we were surprised to find ourselves driving into heavy rain and severe lightening. The severe weather had arrived much earlier than predicted. As we neared our home, we drove deeper and deeper into the severe storm that was passing through Georgia as it continued it's way North East.
Do you ever feel like the burden and weight of deployment and separation are an affliction? May we be able to learn something from the prayer of Hannah in I Samuel 2:1-10 as she presents her son, Samuel to Eli, the priest, and offers him in service to the LORD.
On Memorial Day we honor those who died in service to our country . . . and thank the guards charged with keeping watch over the unknowns who represent the utmost bravery of our American military service members.
Has loneliness during deployment caused you to “talk to yourself”? Do you often feel that no one understands your situation? Perhaps you have experienced that your family . . . . your neighbor. . . . maybe even your spouse does not really understand what you are going through. Well-meaning people may offer a listening ear, but sometimes that just doesn’t help! I think we've all been there.
“I have concluded that when it comes right down to it, there is really only one thing I as a pastor have to offer my congregation---and only one thing that the church has to offer the world. In my role as a pastor people come to me with all sorts of problems, but I confess: I am a physician with but one medicine to prescribe, and that is the gospel of Christ. It may need to be applied in various ways, various aspects of it may need to receive the right emphasis, and it may need to be administered in the right form. But only the gospel of Jesus Christ can heal the deepest wounds of the human heart and enable us to prosper according to God's design, bringing glory to our Lord.” Dr. Bill Kynes of Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church, Annandale, VA This is a powerful quote, posted on The Gospel Coalition blog. Thank you, Dr. Kynes, for speaking truth to all of us.
It is no secret that my favorite book about military life as a Christian is Footsteps of the Faithful by Denise McColl. In it there is a chapter by Denise’s husband, Angus, in which he shares his heart about the demands of parenting while living the calling of military duty: At times I have really become frustrated in my role as a military man and Christian husband and father.
Have you ever been angry with the Army (insert your own service here) at some point? Is it because of back-to-back deployments, a tough duty station, dealing with PTSD, combat operational stress, an injured husband/wife, the death of a spouse or a friend’s spouse, children or dogs who act up because Daddy/Mommy has been away too long? If angry, are you perhaps serving in the wrong Army? The Lord wants us in His Army, not just in the U.S. Army.
I was with military wives, studying Beth Moore’s “Living Beyond Yourself”, when I heard Beth speak these words on the video, “These two things I know from Psalm 62—that God is strong, and that He is loving.” I immediately opened my Bible to read that psalm and get the context to that passage. . . because the simplicity, truth, and power of it cut right to my heart. During my quiet time the next day, I re-read Psalm 62 and “feasted” on the beautiful words of truth in verses 11 and 12: “One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard: that You, O God, are strong, and that You, O Lord, are loving.” As I pondered God’s demonstration of His love and His strength in my life, I was reminded of the song that I had just been singing the week before with my little granddaughter. You know it, and it goes like this: “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to Him belong; they are weak but He is strong. Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me! The Bible tells me so.”
No matter whether you are on the battlefield or the home front, remember to tell the Lord that you love Him. “We love because He first loved us.” I John 4:19