Boot Camp for God's Army, Part 5

Boot Camp for God's Army, Part 5

I remember well when I first got to Fort Leonard Wood, MO.  We were such a motley crew, all of our uniforms were brand new - nothing seemed to fit anybody.  We stood there at what we thought was attention and in some sort of formation, looking sad and out of place.  We watched some other men march past us, singing and counting cadence in uniforms that were pressed and starched.  Their uniforms were faded and form fitted.  They looked like soldiers.

I remember the same thing in God’s Army, when I first came into it.  I looked at the saints of God who had served Him for awhile.  Just like in boot camp, they looked like soldiers, too.

I later found out that first glance doesn’t always count for much.  Just as the ones in Fort Leonard Wood were not yet soldiers (they had only been there a few weeks longer than me, and were still untrained also).  The same thing was true of the saints in God’s Army.  They had been in a lot longer than me, but were still raw recruits.  None had been trained in warfare.

As we went on with our training in boot camp, we began to look like we made formation look better, we sang and called cadence better.  To the next bunch of raw recruits coming in, they too thought we were soldiers.  The truth was, we were not what we appeared to be…not yet.

I Peter 2:1-2 Peter said do away with the old you, and desire the milk of the word so you can grow.

You had to forget your old civilian life that was now behind you and throw yourself into the new life of a soldier.

As in the Army of God, you had to finally come to the conclusion that you are in the world, but no longer a part of it.  John 17:14-26 says, we don’t conduct our lives according to what we knew or who we were, but by the word of our NEW Commander in Chief, Jesus.

We went through 8 weeks of some of the toughest training I had ever known.  Not only physical, but emotional hardships I had ever faced.  I had to learn a discipline like never before.  The temper of a civilian was not a good thing in a soldier.  Oh, the temper would rise up at certain orders or things that were done, but you learned to overcome the civilian traits.  I John 2:13 (Amp); I write to you boys (lads) because you have come to know (recognize and be aware) of the Father.

I had become aware of an authority higher than my own temperament and self, both in my life and in my own person.

            After 8 hard weeks (which felt like 8 years), we came to where it was now our turn for a graduation ceremony.  To the new guys, we looked like we had arrived and they envied us.  As for us, we stood tall and proud that we had endured, and at least for now, had overcome the hardship that had been placed before us.

            I remember my first hardship as a soldier of Christ, though it was different, was the hardest training I had ever gone through at that time.  My old friends, my old life, my old memories and habits tried to overcome me, pull me back.  The anger against other people and at myself for my “failures” seemed to always be pulling at me.  But, as in boot camp, I hardened myself against an enemy that I didn’t quite understand.  I was almost defenseless even though God had made available to me, everything that was needed” to be victorious (no training in my Christian life as a soldier had made me ready for combating an unseen enemy).  No strength in my arms, no anger in my soul, no gun, club, knife or fighting ability that I knew could combat the enemy of God and God’s people.  I was frustrated as a Christian because things didn't work the way other people told me they should.

            I found in boot camp that there were some guys who had decided that they couldn’t take it.  They began to make excuses about why this wouldn't work for them and why this wasn’t for everybody.   They decided to devise a way to get out.  They were always the ones that made it harder to get things done.  They held back the rest of the platoon by not passing inspections, and we all were held back by the constant complaining.

            Finally, we got with the saints of God and just as in boot camp, they began to tell me why the word doesn’t work, why God no longer does these things any longer, this isn’t for everybody, why not to expect prayer to be answered and why God just isn’t God anymore.  But as in I John 2:13, I had come to know Him and the voice of my Lord, Master and Commander in Chief.  John 10:14-16, I came to know the Commander and know His voice, not the voice of a stranger.

            When boot camp (the first 8 weeks) ended, I thought I was finally a soldier (in the sense that I was accepted by the military).  I was, in the sense that I still had so many things that I found I still had to learn.  I was not even close to a combat soldier.  What I hadn’t counted on, was that after I got to go home and show off for a few days in my new uniform.  We went to the PX and bought so many medals they almost hit my belt buckle!  We had expert rifle, hand grenade, machine gun, etc.  When we went home for 14 days after boot camp, we looked like WWII Vets.

            But training wasn’t over…