“Endure hardship…like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” 2 Timothy 2:3
This week we commemorate Independence Day in Canada and in the United States. Those celebrations bring to mind fireworks, parades, ice cream cones and special times with family. But, during the American Civil War, one of the most important battles of the war was fought on July 1-3 in a small town in Pennsylvania named Gettysburg. My husband was something of a Civil War buff and one of his heroes was an unlikely college professor from Maine named Joshua L. Chamberlain.
Colonel Chamberlain knew little about the strategies of war, he had attended a seminary and desired to become a pastor. But when the war began he requested and was given a commission to lead the 20th Maine and found himself at Gettysburg on July 1, 1863. On the second day of the battle, Chamberlain and his men were positioned on a hill called Little Round Top where they were to protect the Union from a vastly superior confederate army. In fact, they were outnumbered four to one. They held their ground until their ammunition began to run out.
Chamberlain knew he could not retreat or the confederate forces would prevail and the entire battle could be lost, so he did a brave thing. He ordered his troops to fix their bayonet rifles and charge down the hill, hoping the enemy forces would think there was a superior force close behind. It had the desired effect, the confederate soldiers turned and ran and hundreds were taken prisoner. As one of Chamberlain’s men guarding a dozen soldiers whispered, “Sir, I don’t have a bullet left!” Chamberlain whispered back, “Not so loud private.” He was a remarkable soldier who was wounded six times, returned home and lived to an old age.
We have an enemy who goes about as a roaring lion looking for those he can devour. In Ephesians 6:11, we’re told to “put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” It’s not a matter of who you are, but Who you are with! God does not always choose people who are the most outwardly capable, or the most naturally strong. He works with the most unlikely material so that everyone can see the glory belongs to God and Him alone! The story of Gideon in Judges 4-6 proved the Lord worked mightily in the least family in the tribe of Manasseh! God gave Gideon a single reply, “I will be with you!”
If you want to be a valiant soldier in God’s kingdom, you have to decide which “General” you will follow. The people of Israel were weak and unable to defend themselves because they had chosen to put their faith in idols rather than the true God. They had divided loyalties. Jesus said, “No man can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other,” Matthew 6:24.
If you want to be a valiant soldier, you have to follow orders! This is a learning process for all of us. We have to trust the promises of God and act on them. He has given us His written Word to help us find His will…and His living presence to help us understand and do it. “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever,” Psalm 73:26.
Let us march on together as “good soldiers for Jesus Christ!”
Your friend, Jean