In the Rear With the Gear

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.  --2 Corinthians 1:3-4

But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.  --2 Corinthians 2:14

Sometimes, I find myself identifying with a character in the Bible.  I don't mean dressing up like them, or taking on their persona.  I mean that the Bible is full of real people with real problems.  Sometimes I identify with Simon Peter, who always seemed to find a way to put his foot in his mouth.  Sometimes I feel like Joshua and Caleb, who went against the majority and stood up for what was right, even if it means the majority label me as an idealist or a "pie in the sky" Christian.

There might be other Bible characters that you can identify with.  You may feel like Naomi, who lost her husband and sons, and was so distraught and alone that she pushed away her daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth.  You might sometimes feel like Martha, who saw her sister Mary sitting with the men at Jesus' feet, and could only think to ask Jesus, "Hey, a little help here!?"

Lately, I have identified with Saul, the first king of Israel. (Side note--Saul was actually the second of Israel's kings.  The first to declare himself king was Abimelech, one of Gideon's sons.  In Judges chapter 9 he sets  himself up as king and deals wickedly with the people.  Saul was just the first king to be anointed by God.  Now you know.)  Why would I identify with Saul?  Not because I stand head and shoulders above all my country-men--I'm only five feet seven.  Not because I have been anointed by God, although 1 John 2:20 talks about all Christians when he says, "But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know (the truth)."

Saul was the first person in Scripture who was described to have signs and symptoms of clinical depression. One modern-day psychiatrist believes that Saul suffered from bi-polar affective disorder.  Severe bouts of depression followed by manic episodes--think about that next time you read the story of Saul calling for David to come and play the harp to lift his mood, only to get so angry that he hurls a spear hoping to pin David to the wall.

I have not felt those extremes, but I have had feelings of being overwhelmed by life.  Sometimes normal stressors of marriage, finances, job, relationships, etc. get overblown.  They seem bigger than life.  Sometimes we feel like Samuel Stennett, who wrote "On Jordan's stormy banks I stand and cast a wishful eye to Canaan's fair and happy land where my possessions lie."  We aren't quite at the place where we ask God "just take my life", but we pray fervently "Even now, Lord Jesus, come quickly."  Rapture us out of this place.  Rescue us from this trail of tears.

Yet when we feel this way, we are disingenuous.  We put on our best smile, and when people at church ask us, "How are you doing?" we snap back, "Great!  Couldn't be better."  If they press a bit more, and ask, "How are things going?" we double down with something like, "Everything's good.  It's all good."

I was at a Men's Night at church recently.  I shook hands with people I know, and some that I don't know.  Every man there has a story.  Every man has his own hurts, his own struggles, his own disappointments.  I know a few of them.  A few of them know mine.  This was not the time or place to be too real, however.  Too many people.  Too many distractions.

The featured speaker that evening was retired Lt. Colonel and former Congressman Allen West.  In his message, he shared a lot of scripture with military connotations.  "In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us and gave Himself for us." (Romans 8:37).  He said that his favorite character in the Bible was Joshua, whom he said if he was alive today would qualify as a Special Forces paratrooper, Green Beret, leader of men.  When Moses passed the baton to him, he took it and ran with it.  He led the army of God into the Promised Land.

Yet when he suffered his first defeat at the small city of Ai, because one man had taken some spoils of war that were under a ban, Joshua fell on his face.  In anguish he cried, "Alas, O Lord God, why did you ever bring this people over the Jordan, only to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us?" (Joshua 7:7)  God's response?  "Get up.  Why are you crying like you've given up?  I'll tell you what went wrong--Israel has sinned.  You need to stand up and consecrate the people, so you can find out who did this thing." (my paraphrase).  Col. West said there comes a time when the men of God need to stand up--stand up against sin, and stand up for the right and the good.  He said we need to stare the culture straight in the eye and declare that God is holy and just, and even if it costs us everything, we will obey Him.

At one point in his message, Col. West said something like this--God calls us to be men, not males; we need to lead out in front, not seek a "safe space".  We need to lead the charge against hell, because God promised "the gates of hell will not prevail against us."  If we fail to do that, he said, we can just "go to the rear with the gear."

I couldn't help but think about Saul.  In 1 Samuel 9, Saul is out looking for some lost donkeys.  After an exhaustive search, he comes near the house of the prophet, and decides to go ask where else he can look.  Samuel hears from God that this man will be king.  Samuel goes out to meet Saul, and says that good things are about to happen to him, things beyond his wildest imagination.  Samuel holds a feast, and sits Saul at the head of the table  He tells the cook to bring the choicest cut of meat and set it before Saul.  After the feast, Samuel invites Saul to come home with him.  He gets out a flask of oil, and anoints him king over Israel.

A bit later, in chapter 10 Samuel calls the elders and the people together, to introduce to them God's anointed, the king himself.  Samuel gives a great coronation speech, then in a lot of pomp and circumstance, he asks God to point out the tribe and the family and the man He had in mind.  The lot fell to the tribe of Benjamin, and then to the family of Kish, and then to the man Saul.  But they looked, and Saul was nowhere to be found.  "Therefore they inquired further of the Lord, 'Has the man come here yet?' So the Lord said, 'Behold, he is hiding himself by the baggage.'  So they ran and took him from there, and when he stood among the people, he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward.  Samuel said to all the people, 'Do  you see him whom the Lord has chosen?  Surely there is no one like him among all the people.'  So all the people shouted and said, 'Long live the king!' " (1 Samuel 10: 22-24).

You can see why I thought of this passage when the speaker said, "in the rear with the gear."  Col. West was using that as a derogatory statement--we should be out front, not standing behind. We should press forward in battle, not choose to hang back with the baggage.  I want to piggy-back on that message.  God had given Saul exactly what he needed to do the job that He called him to do.  He had the physical appearance and of a leader, one who could lead armies into battle or negotiate treaties with other nations.  On at least two occasions, the Bible says that the Spirit of God fell upon Saul, so that he was counted among the prophets.  With those experiences and natural ability, Saul should have jumped at the chance.  Yet because of his paranoia, depressed mood, and manic tendencies, he was a failed king.

Don't be like Saul.  Even if he carried so much emotional baggage that he preferred to be "in the rear with the gear," he had an opportunity to let God be God.  Friend, so can we.  God doesn't call the qualified; He qualifies the called.  He has called me to faithfulness, to righteousness and purity.  What has He called you to?  I cannot possibly do His will in my own power and strength.  He must work through me.  There is no other way.

In God's strength Saul could establish a government where there had not been one before.  He could set up a system of taxation, employ an administration of advisers and counselors, and muster a standing army for the nation's defense.  In his own power, Saul would drive away the psalmist David and pursue him mercilessly.  In his own power, Saul would not wait for Samuel to offer a sacrifice to bless the battle, but decide to offer it himself.  In his own power, Saul would consult with a psychic to conjure up the spirit of the prophet after Samuel had died.

What about me?  In my own strength I struggle with sin.  In my own might I move cautiously.  In my own power I pray for the world to end.  Yet I read God's words: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."  In His strength I am strong.  In His might I can move mountains.  In His power I can pray, I can pursue righteousness, I can prove Him good and just and holy.

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night.  And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.  For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them.  Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time." --Revelation 12:10-12

Remember: Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the word.