Recently, I've been really getting into a book I found at home called "Hearts of Fire". It contains the stories of eight women, from the past and present, who have suffered greatly for their faith. There are so many more who's stories will never be told. Some are beaten. Others raped, or are forced to watch as their families are tortured and murdered--all because of the One they place they've chosen to follow no matter the cost.
But that's not what I'm going to be facing this summer.
Most likely, I won't be facing torture and death. I won't be asked to become a martyr for my God. My family is safe and sound back home. The most I've been asked to give up is a summer vacation at home full of cookouts, VBS, fireworks on the fourth of July and watching the stars out in my backyard.
Instead, I will be working on campus. Cookouts have been replaced with the cafeteria. VBS has been replaced with teaching Sunday School at the Campus Church. Correspondence courses mean a continuation of the studies I was so ready to get away from. And it's against the rules to lay on a beach towel on college field, so watching the stars is out (unless it's as I walk down the street).
Truth is, I was starting to get a little depressed. Then I watched an old movie while I was on vacation called "Mr. Roberts" with Jimmy Cagney and Jack Lemmon in it. Set in WWII, it followed the routine of men aboard a navy ship in the Pacific. While all of the other ships were in the midst of the action, however, this ship was relegated to patrolling an area far from the front lines. The battles these men faced had nothing to do with risking their lives or facing enemy attacks, but rather the sheer boredom of daily routine. Each man had his own struggles just keeping his spirits up during the monotony of doing the same thing day after day, knowing that their friends were out there helping to win the war.
And then last night it all came together while I was listening to the Sunday night sermon. He spoke about a man named Shammah from the old testament. He was one of King David's mighty men of valor. David's men were known for their great acts of bravery against all odds for their king and their God. So what did this man do to merit being mentioned in the greatest Book ever written? He held off a small plot of land used for growing peas against a legion of Philistines all by himself while the others fled (II Sam. 23:11-12).
A garden of peas? Seriously? Yeah, it wasn't much. He wasn't a King. He wasn't a high-ranking official. But the fact that God had given this land to him to defend, however small and obscure, made it important enough for him to face death to protect it.
So no. I won't be out in the midst of the war this summer. I won't be on the front lines (though there's an argument to be made that everyone has their own personal front lines), but God's given me small plots of land. I have the children I will be helping to teach at the campus church. I'll have the people I come into contact with as I go about my daily routine at my job on campus. And I'll have quite a bit of reading to do as I prepare for the day when He does send me out into battle.
Okay, I'll quit now. (It's ironic that I've been sitting here writing about working for God, when the very act of writing this devotion was a way for me to procrastinate so I would have to study for my first test tomorrow for my correspondence course : ). Go figure.
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