I deployed to Iraq
in August of 2005 and returned in February of 2006. During this period, the counterinsurgency
fight was raging and the insurgents’ most successful weapon against the
coalition forces was the “roadside bomb.”
This bomb was an improvised explosive device (IED) placed along roads to
engage coalition forces whether primed for victim initiation (triggered by the
targeted vehicle or individual) or command initiation (triggered by the
insurgents). I drove a HMMWV for my
platoon so you can imagine that having one of these explode on my vehicle or
one in my platoon was a concern. Since
we conducted most of our operations at night, and relied on speed, surprise,
and violence of action to give us a tactical advantage over our enemy, we never
moved slowly enough to find IEDs along our routes. This made us somewhat vulnerable to that
threat.
Before our first
mission, members of my platoon began a practice in faith that continued through
the entire deployment—we prayed together before loading up for each
mission. We not only prayed for our
safety, we prayed that God would grant us victory over our enemies in the same
manner that David prayed in Psalm 56 and many other psalms as well for many
different situations. I also know that
there were many others on the home front that were praying with us. I can also a test that I was never alone when
I prayed. There was always at least one other
member of my platoon or a dozen members.
In Matthew 18:19-20, Jesus said, ‘Again, truly I tell you that if two of
you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my
Father in heaven. For where two or three
gather in my name, there am I with them.’
Those prayers of faith that God is for us and not against us gave us the
courage to face dangers and fears over which we had little control. Another verse that brought us confidence in
the power of God is James 5:16, “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and
effective.” When we departed the safety
of our bases to confront the enemy, we were already the victors.
About halfway
through that deployment, I received a letter from a faithful, praying woman,
Laura Eitland, from my home church in Hummelstown, Pennsylvania—Caring Community
Church of God. In the letter, she
referenced the passage from 2 Kings 6 where Elisha told his servant to not be
afraid of the Aramean army that was surrounding the city.
‘Go,
find out where he is,’ the king, [Aramean king] ordered, ‘so I can send men and
capture him, [Elisha].’ The report came
back: ‘He is in Dothan.’ Then he sent horses and chariots and a strong
force there. They went by night and
surrounded the city.
When the servant of [Elisha,] the
man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and
chariots had surrounded the city. ‘Oh
no, my lord! What shall we do?’ the
servant asked.
‘Don’t be afraid,’ [Elisha,] the
prophet answered. ‘Those who are with us
are more than those who are with them.’
And Elisha prayed, ‘Open his
eyes, LORD, so that he may see.’ Then
the LORD opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of
horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
2 Kings 6:13-17
(Read 2 Kings 6: 8-23 for the full story)
This
passage helped me to visualize the awesome power of God that was protecting us
and going forth before us to grant us the victory we asked for. I was comforted by the image in my mind of “chariots
of fire” from the armies of God protecting the flanks of our convoys and moving
out ahead of us to clear the way of any IEDs and to succumb our enemies to our
will before we ever arrived on site.
Throughout
six months of combat operations in Iraq where we conducted over 80 direct
action raids on known and suspected insurgent locations, we did not hit one
IED. That is not a coincidence. During a period where that was the number one
killer of coalition forces and which we conducted missions with the sole
objective to counter the IED threat, we were not exposed to even one. Not: ‘we hit several but were fortunate to
not have any casualties.’ No! We did not even hit one. Not one!
My faith tells me that the “chariots of fire” solved that problem for
us. (Thank you, Laura, for praying that
Scripture over us and giving me that perspective of the power of God.)
I
hope as you read this short story that you have gained confidence in your faith
in God and his mighty power. We cannot
comprehend his power and so that inability to comprehend leads us to lack
confidence in it. I believe he just
wants us to take that small step of faith in trusting in him. That is all he is waiting on to pour out his
power in our lives. He just wants us to
trust him. Like we trust in any intimate
relationship whether it is with our spouse or a close friend or family member,
he wants our trust. However, to trust,
there must be something that we cannot control.
We all have many things that we cannot control. He wants to take that control for us. First, we must trust him.
Prior
to that deployment to Iraq, I made a poster board with all the men of my
platoon on it and left it with my church who committed to praying for the
platoon as a whole and each individual.
In the center of the poster, I wrote a quote from an anonymous source that
I saw in an Our Daily Bread devotional months before. The quote was this: ‘The safest place to be is not in the absence
of danger, but in the will of God.’ That
is where I want to be.
-Posted by Jordan
