FAITH, OUR AWESOME OPTICAL CAPABILITY-The Art of Spiritual Warfare

"Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

OPTICAL CAPABILITIES

One night during the Gulf War, after a short halt and rest, my truck commander (TC) hopped into our HUMVEE and ordered me to pull out. He was wearing his Night Vision Goggles (NVG’s), but I had not had a chance to put mine on. Early NVG’s came with a harness that had to be worn under the Kevlar helmet. The harness gave me a headache and I only put it on when needed.

I was driving quite tentatively because we were operating in the middle of the vast dark desert, and I could not see where I was driving. He grew cross and scolded me for not driving faster. Later he apologized, saying, “Beals, I’m sorry, you really can’t see a thing out there.”

This week I take a break from the topic “Blunders”, (I have plenty more to cover, because I have so much experience in the subject). I want to talk about the optic of faith, and how valuable it is in the spiritual battlespace.

Racoons see better during periods of darkness. Walruses and dolphins can only see black and white. Star-nosed moles are not equipped with sight at all. Rattlesnakes can see infrared heat signatures. Homo sapiens can see color but can only see infrared with a sophisticated and expensive device.

We cannot see microwave light, but we eat a hot meal in a fraction of the time and effort required with “conventional” ovens.

While we find all the right answers in Scripture, we also encounter many mysteries. Many false religions attack the doctrine of Trinity, and the adherents to one of these religions are fond of saying “The word ‘Trinity’ is found nowhere in the Bible.” We know the truth of Trinity can be found in Scripture, even if the term was coined by Saint Augustine centuries later.

Free will (best described in Arminianism) and preordained election (supported by Calvinists) is another antinomy popular with budding theologians. Some denominations almost anathematize Calvinism, while others believe Arminianism is an insufficient explanation of God’s saving grace. I can solve this ancient argument. The Bible teaches both.

Attempts to explain these mysteries can, and has, led to many heresies. For example, the doctrine of Christ is almost always the first point of departure in false “Christian based” religions. Jesus in the flesh is fully God and fully man.” In Him dwells all the fulness of the godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9). False religions portray Him as: a good man who was received into glory, an angel, or even the brother of Lucifer himself.

The mystery which hits the Human Race the hardest is the truth of a good God in a cold, cruel universe. If God is good, and God is all powerful, why do we see so much suffering and evil? Our seminary answers are winsome and solid… until a friend asks us to officiate a funeral for an infant. At this point, explanations are inadequate and sometimes off-putting. We do not always understand the purposes of God, not because we are uncaring or unholy, but because we are not Him.

Some say, “God only allows evil.” When I ask them if they would allow evil if they could otherwise stop it, they answer emphatically in the negative. “Such a thing would be immoral.” Yet we know no one is more moral than God.

Many more of these mysteries abound in Scripture. We cannot explain everything, because God’s wisdom is ineffable.

Most bad traits are simply good traits misused. Our desire to understand and explain mysteries, particularly concerning the nature of God, is noble and worthwhile. When we forget God is unfathomably greater and wiser than us, we somehow feel the need to explain everything. We cannot.

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“Sometimes all we can say is, “I don’t know, I only know the One who does.”

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FAITH VISION

The Apostle Paul adjures us in II Corinthians 5:7 to “Walk by faith and not by sight.”

We take comfort in knowing that God knows all, and we know Him. All that really matters is that we know Him and love Him more each day. He invites us to spend time in His presence. The more time we spend with Him, the better we see. Jesus says to “doubting” Thomas in John 20:29 “Because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed.”

If colorblind animals could write dictionaries, they would have no way to define the color blue through their own observation. If sightless creatures had the gift of philosophizing, they would have no way of discussing even black and white.

My TC thought nothing of plunging into the desert night with only blackout drive. He could see in the dark. For me, the world dropped off two feet in front of the vehicle. Someday perhaps we will have the kind of vision we need to understand holy mysteries. Until then, sometimes the sanest and bravest thing we can say is “I don’t know, but I know the One who does.”

This week of Thanksgiving, we witnessed a grim event. Two National Guardsmen were shot the day before the holiday, and one of them died on Thanksgiving Day. I served in the Army Reserve from my senior year of high school and throughout college. The government trusted me with an M-16 before they trusted me with a driver’s license. We were proud of our service and hard work. Some were like me, kids serving our country and earning money for school. Others were fulfilling their Reservist obligation after a stint on active duty. Many had served decades being “citizens twice”, working their civilian jobs and soldiering on the weekends. We always heard rumors of impending mobilizations, but none of us ever thought we would die violently on American soil. Let us uphold the families of the victims, along with the entire Virginia National Guard.

Most of us have political opinions regarding the atrocity, but we must also remember this is a deeply human tragedy.

In Iraq, I lost a Soldier on Thanksgiving Day. The holiday only added to the grief and frustration of the event. He was bringing his platoon back to the FOB for the Thanksgiving meal in our Dining Facility, not wanting his Soldiers to eat their feast in the field.

Then, as now, there is nothing to say to make sense of tragedy. All we can do is grieve with those who grieve and although we do not know why, we know the One who does….

Let us all pray for one another this week. God bless you all.

“Be Thou my vision oh Lord of my heart, Naught be all else to me save that Thou art”