Daddy was a product of World War II. He enlisted prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor, and served for the duration of the war despite being wounded twice. Following his discharge, Daddy joined the Army Reserves, and went to Army schools until he retired, including the Command and General Staff College at Ft. Leavenworth, eventually earning the rank of Lt. Colonel.
amory: a supply of arms for defense or attack
For two decades, Daddy served as the facilities coordinator for a US Army Reserve Center in Kansas City. When my brother, Buddy, and I were in high school the Viet Nam War was at its peak, and we watched it in “living color” every night on the news.
We’d grown up on Daddy’s war stories, but he’d been careful to share the PG-13 versions, not the grim realitites of war. Now he wanted us to have more than a social media view of war, so he took us on a tour of the reserve center amory.
As a veteran and parent, Daddy wanted to ensure we understood the purpose and severity of war. I still recall racks of rifles, cases of ammunition, protective gear, and even a few jeeps and armored trucks. Daddy also taught us the difference between being armed and equipped.
The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you, in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
but will rejoice over you with singing.
Currently, the Lord is leading me on a trek through the book of Joshua in the Old Testament. This short video provides a great synopsis on Joshua’s role in leading the children of Israel into and claiming the Promised Land. Today what grabbed my attention was a passage that could easily be overlooked amid intense battles with surprising outocomes, like the battle for Jericho.
. . . about 40,000 [men] armed and equipped for war crossed for battle before the Lord to the desert plains of Jericho.
Dear Reader, this pragmatic brain of mine immediately jumped to the logistics of this description. I wondered:
- Where did the weapons, protective gear, and provisions come from? These guys had been hiking around the desert for decades. Did they learn how to craft, or procure them, and from whom?
- Who was going to take care of their families?
- And, most importantly, exactly how did they “cross(ed) for battle before the Lord?”
What arrogance to try and fit God Almighty into a box! And what a waste of brain cells to allow myself to get distracted from the real message of the short, but powerful passage.
Here’s the deal, Dear Reader, if the Lord creates each of us uniquely, and a plan for us that is just as unique, does it make sense that He would send us off to battle without arming and equipping us? Let’s face it: we all have had battles in our lives. Maybe illness or injury that consumes months of rehab, or financial challenges not of our own making, or relationships that just don’t seem to be working, no matter how hard we try.
I believe God continues to prepare, protect, and provide for us as He did the forty thousand who crossed before Him. Providing weapons from an unknown armory may have been the easy part. To prepare and protect each soldier, perhaps God empowered them with clarity, focus, a willingness to obey, courage, and most of all, faith. That could only happen as each one stood in the Lord’s Presence, not a casual wave in passing by, but immersed in a posture and mindset of complete humility and submission.
Every soldier had a face and a name, probably family and friends who cared about him. Perhaps they had dreams about what life would look like in the Promised Land. Is that really any different than us? And yet, God is big enough to know and care for each one of us according to our specific needs.
Dear Reader, whatever battle or war you are facing, in the middle of, or recovering from, I pray this short passage empowers you, gives you confidence in knowing the Mighty Warrior doesn’t just send you into the fray. As you seek His Presence, He arms and equips you for battle.
How has God recently armed and equipped you for a challenge?
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