“Roger that, scout leader, looks like we’re clear”, his voice crackled over the radio. “OK Frank, let’s go in – last run.”
“Lots of fireworks flyin’ around up here”, retorted the squadron leader. “Looks like the fourth of July.”
“Yeah, hope my kid’s not watchin’ on TV. Can’t get his three year old face outta my mind! Can’t imagine bein’ nothin’ but a faint memory in his scrapbook.”
“Not sure if mine’s a boy or a girl”, returned the leader …
One day, a healthy 21 year old man plays ball in the park with his son. The next, he’s dodging anti-aircraft fire over the skies of Yugoslavia. His biggest concern a few days ago, “Gotta fix that leaky tap in the kitchen.” Tonight – “Damn, I hope I see my kitchen again.” His family would quickly echo his concerns of the night.
Remember your first plane ride? It just seemed like everything below was completely flat. That 20 story building looked just as high as Uncle Fred’s barn. The problems and joys of the thousands of families below somehow seemed insignificant. The perspective of flight was the controlling thought. Seems like war is just that way. Nothing else seems to matter much for the moment.
As you watch the TV reports and the bombs drop from the comfort of your couch, you grasp for understanding . You struggle to make some sense out of all the senselessness. Somehow it just doesn’t seem real – after all you’ve been surrounded by staged violence night after night on the tube. Why should this be any different? And yet the images linger.
War has the tendency to leave people in despair. And yet the Christian response to the issues and conditions of war can afford no such emotion. The helplessness that surrounds a war finds its foundation in the statistics, thoughts and analysis of man – not in the words of holy scripture. The Christian need not acquiesce to the hopeless attitudes of the world. The scriptures call him to a far greater and more worthy endeavor – prayer. The Bible still says that the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
Prayer out of a believing heart transcends oceans, countries and time to provide the solid results that the Bible promises. Consistently it thwarts the statistics and purposes of man to bring to the forefront the will and purposes of God. It introduces the power of God into situations of despair and futility. It replaces anxiety with a peace that passes understanding. It reduces Goliath-sized problems down to David-sized proportions. Lions, though hungry, no longer attack. Furnaces, though hot, no longer burn. People, though faced with danger, no longer fear.
Whether the prayer is offered in the quiet of your home or in two tons of metal flying twice the speed of sound, God’s promise to keep, protect and deliver is sure. Instead of succumbing to helplessness and fear, I encourage you to pray. God’s power is still greater than the machines and mechanics of man.
Psalm 57:1
“…in the shadow of Thy wings will I make my refuge…”
After all, the “Thy” here doesn’t refer to a B1 Bomber or an F-18.