FLY, envious Time, till thou run out thy race: Call on the lazy leaden-stepping Hours, Whose speed is but the heavy plummet’s pace; And glut thyself with what thy womb devours, Which is no more than what is false and vain, And merely mortal dross; So little is our loss, So little is thy gain! For, when as each thing bad thou hast entombed, And, last of all, thy greedy Self consumed, Then long eternity shall greet our bliss With an individual kiss, And joy shall undertake us as a flood; When everything that is sincerely good And perfectly divine, With Truth, and Peace, and Love, shall ever shine About the supreme Throne Of Him, to whose happy-making sight alone When once our heavenly-guided soul shall climb, Then, all this earthly grossness quit, Attired with stars we shall forever sit, Triumphing over Death, and Chance, and thee, O Time!
~ John Milton (1608-1674)
Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.” And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again. And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.” And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God.
~ from 1 Kings 19
Oh beloved, it is true. And if you don’t know it. You probably are not one of us. Those of us who look the strongest and seem to travel in the fast lanes of His Great Commission are indeed warriors. But the path to being a warrior is not success.
No, the path to being a warrior of the cross is nearly always the path of death and abject failure. Our lives and experiences are often so painful that most people would have a hard time believing that we are so full of Love and care for others.
We are no different than the average brother and sister, it is just that somewhere we made a choice. We asked Him to make us better through the wreckage of our lives. We asked Him to take what had been, up to this point, a pointless existence and to make it something that would matter in His economy.
And somehow, in some miraculous way, He does exactly this. He takes us out ourselves and gives us the opportunity to finally make a difference. We are filled in Him, and He goes about flinging us across the globe in these foolish ventures of Loving people and teaching them to obey all that He has commanded us. We bathe those around us in the Living Waters that flow out of us.
People are healed
Lives are changed
Grace is lived
Hopes are restored
Eternity gets different.
But the path to this place… The memories for a warrior… All the failures. All the people we have hurt. All the ways that our bleeding that others might live, not being seen. The nights pacing the cage of our minds. The desert months of wandering and wondering whether we going in the right direction. The endless times of waiting in the places where He has to work on us before we can take the next impossible step He has planned…. These are some of the things that make being a warrior hard.
But usually, just when we are about to bail out. In comes a fresh load of the stuff that keeps us going. It is like the hot meal and cool water the angel gave to Elijah. And it is on the strength of only a few portions in a lifetime, that a warrior can march all the way Home.
Affirmation.
Affirmation; this speaking of a truth that fills a needful place in our heart. Something that is a catalyst to further courage and work.
Some of it comes from friends and coworkers. And this is very nice.
A little of it comes from the people we are rescuing and helping. This too is wonderful.
A precious small portion of it comes from the people who don’t like us, or are even our enemies. This kind of affirmation is some of the most potent fuel for the long marches of our lives.
Then comes the really good stuff. We hear it only once in awhile, but probably would hear it more if we listened a little more quietly. He speaks to us in His still small voice, “Well done child. I AM so proud of you. Thank you for allowing Me to take you to these people.”
Can we see it? This is really what all of this is about. We find that in seeing and hearing and sensing even the tiniest portion of His infinite, chesedic heart, we are infused with a joy that sloughs the thousands of miles of slogging through the muck of this world right off of our shoulders, and gives us a desire to keep feasting on the food of doing His will.
So, are you tired warrior? That’s OK. Your task is impossible. But perhaps you are more tired than you need to be. Are you listening? Shhhhh. Quietly now. Can you hear Him? Tonight is your night beloved, time to allow Him to fill you with exactly what you need.
