2024-05-17
Good Morning Dear Ones,
One of the knottiest problems in our society is emotional and combat fatigue. It happens in different ways, e.g. resulting from combat in the military or with first responders, resulting from emotional trauma that can happen anywhere, and emotional neglect or abuse. Without medical support, the end results can be devastating. I had a friend who faced a combat situation in which he was sent out to guard a position with others in the “Desert Storm” invasion. This friend was a kindly, gentle soul who had been encouraged to join the military at his family’s behest to “find himself.” As he was standing guard, two friends on either side of him were shot dead but he was able to avoid this fate. He felt guilty. and although it was misguided, he came back deeply altered for the worse. To this very day and despite years of counseling, he still suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder [PTSD].
He is one of the more fortunate ones, because help was available to him. However, there are many more ex-soldiers who turn to drugs, or alcohol or both and end up homeless living on the streets. Due to lack of programs to help these people, they live in tents or cardboard boxes lining sidewalks or under overpasses. Some go so far as to commit suicide. It is only in recent years that people are willing to talk about mental health issues such as these. Combat fatigue is not the only cause of PTSD. I suffer from it too, as many women do from emotional trauma. I have it because of witnessing my husband’s death and what led up to it. Fortunately for me, I have faith in Jesus Christ and a ministry, which helps to take my mind off the last five years of my husband, Peter’s, life and his actual death. However, there are nights when I’m struck with flashbacks of these events that awaken me out of my sleep. PHIL 3: 7-11 reaches deeply into my faith. PHIL 3: 7-8, “But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for Whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ…”
As a believer in Christ, I know that He has strengthened me [PHIL 4: 13] to endure the rest of my earthly life without my dear Peter. My family believes that my faith in Jesus is an emotional crutch, but I beg to disagree. It is faith and what having faith can do for us. Since this devotion is about His power to transform, let me share a true story about that. Nathan Schmidt was a Marine Reserve Lt. Colonel called to active duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. He knew the value of rope climbing, as did his buddy, Dan Chossen. Both men are Naval Academy graduates. Dan lost both legs, got protheses, and later became a Paralympian. Nathan at age 24 was badly injured physically and emotionally in a fierce battle in Fallujah, Iraq and lost a beloved instructor from the Academy in that battle. Twenty percent of those fighting in Fallujah were either injured or killed. For several years, he carried deep-seeded anger over what happened. But God decided to intervene with Nathan and gave him the idea to start Mountain Seed Foundation, named in honor of LK 17:6, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say this to a mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea;’ and it will obey you.” Dan hadn’t climbed since his injury. Nathan wanted Dan to climb with him, but not just for themselves. Both men had a heart for Ukrainian widows and children, whose husbands and fathers had been killed by the Russian troops invading their country. I’m partly Ukrainian and I’ve had an abiding concern for that country, including praying for the Ukrainian people. So, Nathan and Dan’s story piqued my interest. The Mountain Seed Foundation invited these Ukrainian women and their children to come to the Mooserboden Dam in Hohetauren National Park in the Austrian Alps on Mount Kitzsteinhorn. The women were given counseling first. Meanwhile foot harnesses attached to the steep concrete dam with clips connected by steel cables were installed. Little by little, the two guides (Nathan and Dan) taught these Ukrainians to overcome their fear and climb diagonally on the dam to the other side of the mountain. This difficult challenge wasn’t met the same way be each participant. Some took to it more easily than others. But in the end, even the most frightened lady came to realize overcoming it was giving her the courage to go on with her life, raising her children, without her beloved husband. Moreover, both Nathan and Dan now had a purpose in which they could use their misfortune to help others. Dan commented, “The bomb took my legs but not the rest of my life!” The courage of this group helped them climb 10, 508 feet! That’s my idea of God’s power to transform and bring good from the awful things that sometimes happen to people.
PRAYER: O Most High Lord, we often underestimate the power to do good that You have. PHIL 2: 13, “For it is God Who works in you to will and act in order to fulfill His good purpose.” All too often we can’t see the wisdom of letting go and letting You lead. This delays the good You have planned for us to do. What we should do is to pray for You to use Your power, remembering that You have no evil in You [1 JN 1: 5]. COL 1: 11, “Being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you many have great endurance and patience.” To help us understand the enormity of Your power, You have told us in EPH 1: 19-20,” And His incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength He exerted when He raised Christ from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms.” We thank and praise You, Lord, for intervening in our lives to transform us to conform to Jesus Christ. In His name, we pray. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: At the crux of transformation is growing faith. We must understand the connection between the Father and Jesus in this spiritual maturation process. JN 8: 28-29 sheds light on this important subject. The Holy Spirit commands me to write about it next week. Yes, faith, hope, love—all the gifts of the Holy Spirit-- are integral to genuine transformation and maturation by the One Who loves us more than we can imagine. It is why we were given JN 13: 34-35, that new commandment from the Lord Jesus. Praise and thanks be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn, JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2024. All Rights Reserved.
<-- Back to Archives