Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD. (Psalm 27:14)

Wow, we have done some waiting in the military haven’t we? Sometimes it’s in the most miserable weather, too. One of the most notorious places for waiting is Green Ramp at Pope Air Force Base. When I was in the 82nd Airborne Division I sat on that concrete forever waiting for a jump (and sometimes just to find out the jump was cancelled). But when it comes to waiting on God, we can be assured it’s always beneficial. Sometimes it’s a matter of our not being ready. Sometimes it’s a matter of lining up other people and circumstances. But waiting on God is always about perfect timing. Who knows where that extra time in the chow line or the delay traffic will lead. Learn to rest in your waiting.

Jesus replied: `Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.’ (Matthew 22:37-40)

Being an Infantryman was great because everything was boiled down to its most basic elements. Folks often joke about grunts being less than intellectual in their profession. More brawn then brains. (I did like coloring all those pictures in my FMs) But, the truth of the matter is the simpler the task, the easier it is to implement. Christian living is simple too. We only need to remember two things: Love God and Love People. Simple, right? It’s a good thing too, because if you’re like me, that’s plenty.

If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. (1 John 4:20)

Ever run into a PX warrior? You know what I mean, guys who really haven’t earned a badge or award but are wearing it anyway. When they are discovered, it’s quite a disappointment. The soldier is stealing the hard earned merits of those who really deserve the honor. It’s false advertising and their individual integrity isn’t worth the price of the badge itself. Do we fall into the trap of false advertising as Christians? Isn’t it the same when we say we love God and do not love our brothers? Love for God cannot exist without love for others. Don’t be a PX Christian, love God by loving the people around you.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1:2-4)

I’m not sure I counted Ranger School as pure joy. But one thing for sure, it did develop perseverance. It was also a time of growing faith. I read parts of the New Testament up in the mountains and down in Florida. I considered for the first time that maybe I ought to seriously seek out a relationship with God. And I was stiffly confronted on my own sin. All this was brought on by a prolonged period of suffering. As I look at the results, not only physically but spiritually, I can count it all joy. But Ranger School isn’t the toughest thing life has to hand out. We can suffer in many ways but we have more hope when we understand its process and product. Hang in there.

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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)

I checked in with the secretary and then entered the General’s office. It was the first time I wasn’t nervous around a general officer. Oh, don’t get me wrong. I demonstrated the respect due any senior leader but my knees weren’t knocking. I wasn’t feeling the anxiety I normally experienced. The reason for the calm is clear. He had been my battalion commander and we had developed a close professional relationship. Relationship makes all the difference. That’s what we have with God the Father through His Son, Jesus Christ, a relationship. And now, rendering all proper respect due to the Creator, we can enter into God’s presence with confidence and calm.

The LORD said to Gideon, ‘You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands. In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her, announce now to the people, `Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’‘ So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained. (Judges 7:2-3)

The answer was ‘NO’ from the Chief of Chaplain’s Office the first time I applied for the chaplaincy. I had banked on the fact that I was an Airborne Ranger and the Army needed me. Even the Chief’s Office had affirmed me two and half years earlier. Seems my permanent hearing loss and my school credentials would keep the chaplaincy out of my reach ‘forever’. I was crushed. Three years later, through some miraculous circumstances, I was suddenly eligible again. The message was clear. God didn’t need all my tabs and badges. He would receive the credit for my accessioning to the Army Chaplaincy. Some times more is not better. To God be the glory!

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)

When you are young, death seems like something reserved for the unlucky in combat or a parachute jump. But the older you get the more the reality of such a fate begins to soak in. Then the big reach for significance begins to take over; a reach for promotion, power, material goods, and anything that would satisfy the yearning to be somebody who has done something. But unless we invest in the eternal, we simply toss it all to the wind. Fix your eyes on the eternal.

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. (Psalm 73:26)

My brother, was talking to an older gentleman when he remarked, ‘I’m feeling old.’ My 41-year-old brother, replied, ‘Yah, I know what you mean.’ The man in his 60’s rebutted, ‘No you don’t. You’re still young.’ To which my brother replied again, ‘And how many combat equipment parachute jumps do YOU have?’ You know, my brother has a point. For a lot of us it’s not age, it’s mileage. Yes this tent will fade but our hope is in Christ who will be able to rescue us from our decay. Everyday is just one step closer to glory.

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21)

I can remember as a kid sneaking up to the attic to look at some of my Dad’s old stuff. My favorite things were in an old footlocker. The wooden box contained maps, uniforms, equipment, and other trinkets. When I opened it up, I was immediately confronted with the smell of rotting souvenirs from the Vietnam War. The smell was an aged combination of jungle and sweat, a unique odor of decay. They were pretty cool things to rummage through but it would be foolish to treasure that kind of stuff (or any other material thing for that matter). It’s all rotting away. We need to remember that our riches are stored in heaven. We need to deepen our relationship with Christ and extend our love to other people. These are the treasures that bear the sweet aroma of our good works and are kept safe in an eternal footlocker.