Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Foxhole Faith


     Everyone knows the saying, "there are no atheists in foxholes". Especially when you're in battle; under fire, about to be overrun, and feeling the 'end' is near. Impending defeat from a fierce enemy has a way of speeding up the soul searching that we do to find our purpose, our reason for living. Often that battlefield searching within ourselves reveals a need to believe in a power, an order, beyond what we see and know here in this world. The call goes out to God, save me, or take care of my family. In crisis mode, when things are as bad as the soldier thinks they can get, faith in God is natural, easy, and outright compulsory.
     In our desperate times, we too turn to God, whether it's to save us from something we've done to ourselves, or from what danger someone is about to impose on us. We shout to God when we think He has been unfair to you or subjected a loved one to an illness. Or when a family member or friend is taken to heaven. Even as believers, there are times that we do not seek God until we are frantic enough to admit that we cannot solve the problem on our own. Issues big and small, crisis that are life-threatening or not, each of us has a threshold, an ability to cope, that once reached forces us to seek a source of deliverance beyond ourselves.

Foxholes can hasten your belief in God,
they can even inspire you to reach out to Him for absolution.
But they can also be a great place to hide

     I see two kinds of Christians in foxholes. The new Christians, that just realized how much they need God and are accepting God's grace at light speed because of their immediate need. And the Christian that has known God's grace and forgiveness over and over. The tired and worn Christian, that obeys and takes up the arms of the battle only to find that they can't go on. Exhausted, used up, consumed and eaten alive by the "religious commandos" of the church Pharisee squad, they hide. They hunker-down and take cover, just in sight of grace, but not quite under its full power and forgiveness. Afraid to move, paralyzed by fear, shame, or the ridicule of others. This is a very scary place. To know that you need to move towards God, but not have the ability to move. To see the Savior at a distance, but not believe that He is here to care for you.
     Foxholes are also full of dead soldiers. Those that never found a way out. That didn't believe that they could be saved, or that God could forgive them. This is the condition that I seek to help you and I avoid. We all struggle with acceptance, and self-worth at some point. We think that we've fallen too far or done too many bad things. That we have already chosen our path, and it's too late to change it. The good news is that God doesn't give up on us when we fall. His love is unlike anything we experience here in this world, and his forgiveness stretches farther than you have ever been. Most of His chosen men fell upon doubt and disbelief when Jesus was crucified. As with us, they failed. But God had a plan for them, and though some of them hid in their foxholes waiting for the battle to calm down, grace came to them where they were. You see, those in the foxholes who die because they are too afraid or conditioned to believe that they can make it from where they are to where God is, fail to realize one thing.

Grace meets us where we are

     Scars, defeats, sickness, addictions and all, God sends the might of His generosity and compassion to our hiding place. It pierces the darkness of our lonely struggle to believe that we aren't alone in our foxhole. The truth is that He is as near as the air that we breathe. The deeper you dig, the harder it is to see out of your hole. Don't stop looking for God to answer your call. Don't ever stop. The good news I want you to know is this; He has already answered your call. Before you were in trouble. Before you knew that you needed Him, and before you were born into this world, He loved you and wanted you to know Him. Hiding in your foxhole or not, He has a purpose for your life, and He will meet you on your battlefield. You are the front line and the last line of God's enduring mission to reveal Himself to each of us, through good times and bad. Seen or unseen, He is within reach; do not lose faith. Close your eyes and touch the hem of His mercy and forgiveness as He answers your call, reach out and you will be renewed.

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