Our friends’ son enlisted in the U.S. Army right after high school. He rose to become an elite Ranger, then later a Green Beret and a member of the Special Forces Dive Team. At one point, within days of his unit’s deployment to Iraq, his parents called to tell him a close relative, like a grandmother to him, had passed away. The soldier gave a guarded response to the emotional call: “I have to stay focused right now. I have a job to do.” He was not unfeeling, but rather highly trained and responsible. The lives of his squad members would depend on his undivided attention during missions, and he could not allow emotions to get in the way.
This story reminds me of 2 Timothy 2:4:
No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.
When one of our own sons, a military officer, deployed to a war zone, we occasionally had video calls with him, often late at night his time. He would stand outside a shipping container, which served as his spartan barracks, to get a better signal. I learned that soldiers sent overseas under these circumstances have no weekends. Our son worked long days, seven days a week, always on call, always at risk, in a hostile environment. These wartime service conditions make the majority of our civilian jobs look cushy in comparison.
The peaceful appearance of our comfortable western surroundings and circumstances belies reality. Whether we perceive it or not, believers are soldiers at war. And our enemy wants us dead. First Peter 5:8 describes him as “a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour,” and warns us to be sober, to be vigilant (self-controlled and watchful). Beyond that admonition, the next verse urges us to resist our enemy and to remain steadfast (solid, firm, unmoved) in the faith. In the military, falling asleep at your post in wartime is considered dereliction of duty, an offense with serious repercussions. Are we alert or dozing?
Single-minded focus requires that we not be entangled in or distracted by the affairs of everyday life. Mark 4:19 alludes to such entanglements as “the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things” which choke out the Word and render it unfruitful in our lives. We must wake up to the fact that as believers, we have enlisted. In reality, we are not our own; we were bought with a price (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
The good news is, we’re not fighting alone, we’re not without weapons, and we already know our side ultimately wins! But God wants us to experience a succession of personal victories over the devil. For that to happen, we have to pick up our weapon, the Word of God, and fight. Fight fear in any form. Fight every thought that contradicts the Truth. Submit to God, resist your enemy, and he will flee from you! (James 4:7)
