Begin with two minutes of silence and stillness before God.
When I was a kid, I loved anything to do with the military. My two younger brothers and I would engage in various combat scenarios, whether it was me pistol-whipping them in the woods (a pretty standard military tactic) or creating these elaborate battle scenes with our little plastic army men. The epic battles we played out were almost always that of a WWII variety. That has always been my favorite period of history, so naturally the woods behind our house became the Ardennes Forest, where the Battle of the Bulge was fought, and the pond was, obviously, the Battle of Midway. Our imaginations were fueled by the History Channel and the books we read.
One such story is that of a one Kazuo Odachi. He belonged to a group of soldiers that were never meant to survive...the feared, Kamikaze Pilots. The Kamikaze Pilots were Japanese pilots who were destined for death and destruction via suicide missions. Their aircrafts were loaded with extra fuel and explosives, while the pilot was tasked with piloting the aircraft into various targets for maximum damage. Mr. Odachi volunteered to fight in a war he knew his country would not win. He was prepared to die for those he loved. On his first mission as a suicide pilot, his plane was rigged with a 1,100lb bomb making it impossible to outmaneuver the enemy. When spotted, he jettisoned his bomb into the ocean and managed to escape. On his next mission, he failed to find a target. The next 6 missions he would go on would also end in failure. Mr. Odachi describes the nights waiting for new mission orders as “the conferral of the death penalty, and it was stomach-turning”. By the end, he said, “We had become indifferent to matters of life and death. Our only concern was making the final moment count.” Just before takeoff of his final mission, a ground crew member ran onto the runway and signaled for the squadron to stop. The war was over with Japan’s surrender.
Mr. Odachi said, “We had become indifferent to matters of life and death.” As Christians, we too can carry a similar attitude, however, our indifference is fueled, not by nationalism and military training, but by victory over death through Jesus Christ. In Romans 12, we are called to be a “living sacrifice”. Pain and suffering are but a bump in the road on our journey. Peter says, “If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you” (1 Peter 4:14). Whether insult or death, there will be “a Spirit of glory and of God resting on us.” We are not exempt from pain and suffering, but we will experience a special “resting” on us of “the Spirit of glory and of God.” Romans 5:3-5 says to “rejoice in our sufferings.” We gain endurance and hope through these trials. When you think about it, it’s a “glass half full” mentality, except, as believers' cups are completely full and no amount of pain and suffering can take that away. Jesus conquered death and we have been raised to walk in newness in life with Him. When all of eternity awaits us, who has time to worry about the trials of this temporary home? For the nonbeliever, this is as good as it gets. But for my brothers and sisters in Christ, this is as bad as it gets. Eyes on the prize!
Take two minutes to reflect in silence.