Morning sun rising
There’s sleep in our eyes
And echoes of nightmares
Taunt us with lies
But this is a new day
This is the dawn
There is a new way
Calling us on
Hunger and hatred
War and disease
The debt of the devil
Is never appeased
Truth is the weapon
Faith is the shield
Love is the power
For those who will yield
Don’t trust in armies
There’s no hope in guns
Don’t count on missiles
That block out the sun
For nothing below us
And nothing above
Can ever extinguish
The fire of His love
We have won this war
We have won this war
The fight may not be done
But the war’s already won
– From “We Have Won This War,” by John Fischer
Carole, a loyal Catch member, has an amazing story to tell about how God saved her from an armed attacker who forced his way into her home and held her at gunpoint in her own kitchen. I would tell the story, but it is so compelling that the story would become the point when it is not the point. The point is that God is in control. We are powerless against the forces of evil. To think that training, weapons, pepper spray, and self-defense can protect you is to put your faith in the wrong place.
The point of Carole’s story is that neither she nor her attacker were in control, but they were both caught up in a much bigger battle.
The worst thing you can do is to take every precaution known to man to protect yourself and then trust in your preparation. That is a very weak position. The almost comical scene comes to mind that I’m sure you’ve seen in some action movie comedies, where a marshal arts specialist shows off his “wares” to his opponent by cutting and slashing and screaming and kicking the air, and his opponent — after watching all this, somewhat amused — just pulls out a gun and shoots him.
I’m not saying don’t be prepared. Preparation is worth something. I am saying don’t trust your preparation. Don’t lean on your own understanding.
Go get training, get prepared, have a gun, don’t have a gun, whatever you want… in the end there is nothing you can do to stop a bullet. We are at the mercy of forces beyond our control. In the end we are at the same place we were at the beginning, so trust God fully. Put your hand in the hand of the man who stilled the waters.
Ask Carole. Her gun was in the bedroom. A knife was in her hand. Neither were of any consequence to her. The only thing of value in that moment was the word of God.
And what was going down in her kitchen that day was far beyond anything she could have been prepared for. It had little to do with even her or her attacker. It was a battle between God and the devil — heaven and hell — the same battle going on in kitchens everywhere today. Who are we compared to what is really going on? And yet we are on the side of the victor. It’s not that God’s on our side (that’s pretty arrogant). No, we are on His side, or at least that’s where we want to be, and you get there by trusting Him completely.
“I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20
We have won this war
We have won this war
The fight may not be done
But the war’s already won
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