Reflections

Back then, I was so preoccupied with my own concerns that I was not really thinking much about God’s plan for me. My schooling in the PMA and the Scout Ranger Training School (SRTS) led me to believe what William Ernest Henley wrote in his Invictus, “I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul”. I just wanted a “progressive military career” as we call it in the Academy.

God allows us opportunities in life not to satisfy our selfish ambitions but to use these platforms for His honor and glory. We can only truly achieve our goals if they are aligned with God’s will and purpose. God often uses people who are not the best and the brightest so that in the end, man cannot boast but acknowledge God’s sovereignty. I like what the English Standard Version of the Bible said about Gideon in Judges 6:12,

“And the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, “The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor.”

The truth is, Gideon was not even close to being the best. But God allowed him to lead 300 men against the large Midianite army “without even firing a single shot,” as we say in modern military parlance. They simply blew their trumpets and shouted a battle cry as their burning torches and the noise simulated an attack by a large force. As a result, the Midianite army fled. This has become a symbolic military success story, just like the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae. Here is one classic example where God shows us that strength is not by “our might but by His might!” Ephesians 6:10.

 

--THE RESECUE (2019)