Church in the City (November 2020)

16. Soldiering On!

If I could have had the opportunity, I would have loved to have joined the forces.   My choice would have been the Army.

Anyone who knows me well knows I have exceptional organisational skills, can push through physical exertion and can take orders.  However, this was not the path God chose for me and it wasn’t to be.

Thinking about what might have been, started me thinking about my life as a Christian. I love the song, “Onward, Christian Soldiers…”.  As a soldier you serve Queen and country and, similarly, as a Christian you serve God.  

Standing to attention is a way of showing you are being obedient to your outranking officer.  When you stand to attention to God you are showing obedience, but He doesn’t shout it in your face, you choose to pay attention.

Soldiers go on daring missions and life for a Christian soldier is filled with missions.  I don’t just mean missionary work; each day is a mission all of its own.    And do you know the best bit?

As you go on your daily missions, your officer in charge, aka God, is available to speak to and He will guide you through your mission to achieve your/His goals.

Soldiers have fantastic camaraderie. They are divided into sections and each of them look out for each other.  As Christian Soldiers we have our churches and in smaller parts the people we connect with socially as Christians do look out for each other.

Have you ever been in a situation where you feel like you can’t carry on, but somehow you find yourself getting through?  As a Christian, the power of prayer has proved to help me over those hurdles. When I feel like I just can’t jump it, God has lifted me up to be able to. This has happened many times over.

When soldiers train, they are encouraged to push themselves further – further than they think they can go.  Do you know that when Roman soldiers were training, they carried heavier swords than they would in true battle so they had the strength to fight harder against the real enemy?   As Christians we are trained to endure many things and reach out when we need help.

The phrase soldiering on, means that when things are not easy, we simply keep on going.  It isn’t always easy in life but remember to keep going and, if you get stuck, remember to speak to the Sergeant Major!

At Ease!

Final thought – Do you reach out when things get too much?  What area would you like more training on?

XOXO

Hayley R